BOI says 37 new projects signed with $ 579 m investment in 1Q

The Board of Investment said yesterday it has entered into 37 new investment agreements during the period of April-May 2016 with an estimated value of around $ 579 million while generating 6,000 direct employments opportunities.

BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya signed the agreements on behalf of the BOI.

These projects cover a range of sectors and when started will be generating an estimated 6,000 new employment opportunities. 

Investor friendly policies, simplified systems and procedures and business-like attitudes adopted by the BOI over the last year led to phenomenal growth of FDI inflows. The newly established One-Stop-Shop (OSS) of the BOI has made it easy to invest in Sri Lanka by providing an effective and convenient single point of contact for investors in terms of realising investment in Sri Lanka. Arrangements have been made by the Government to strengthen the OSS.  

The wide range of sectors of the investments reflect the growing diversification of Sri Lanka’s economic base and exports. These include such diverse sectors as mini hydropower plants, software development, tourist hotels, apparels manufacturing, apartment complexes, mixed development, IT and business process outsourcing, hospital, agriculture, education, tourism and leisure and logistics operations.  

As Colombo develops further under the Megapolis programwhich is the blueprint of Government’s development strategy, the demand for apartments will correspondingly increase. Hence nine agreements have been signed to set up new apartment complexes. Fairwar Urban Homes Ltd., Iconic Development Ltd., S T K Developers Ltd., Menara Residencies Ltd., Capital Tower Ltd., Elysian Reality Ltd., U K Lanka Developers Ltd., MakroDevelopers Ltd. and P U W Towers will set up new housing complexes in Colombo. The estimated value of investment is $ 230 million.

Sri Lanka’s logistics industry’s contribution to national GDP is currently estimated to be around 3% and is targeted to contribute at least 10% by 2020. Sri Lanka is thriving to become the logistics hub in South Asia. Sri Lanka’s sea ports and airports with increasing cargo handling capacity and the air and sea connectivity are key strengths to attract investment in this field. 

A total number of four new agreements have been signed representing investments of $ 85 million. These projects include a variety of services such as feeder services, marine services, entrepot trading,off-shore businesses, front-end and headquarter operations and others.

A key area of investment is in power generation as it enhances the capacity of the country. Four new agreements have been signed in April-May 2016 to set up mini hydropower projects in various parts of the country such as Dehiattakandiya, Demodara, Soranathota and Walapane. 

Vidula Biomass Ltd., Ino Mini Hydro Power Ltd., Udawela Hydro Ltd. and Biomed Hydro Power Ltd. have obtained BOI approval to set up mini hydro power plant projects. The electricity generated by these mini power plants will be supplied to the National Grid to address the growing electricity demand in the country.

The new projects in tourism strengthen a sector where Sri Lanka already has a strong competitive advantage. Four new agreements were signed to set up hotel projects with an investment of $ 69 million.Saracawatta Ltd., Saif Estate Ltd., Sofia Kandy Ltd. and Casa De Hotel & Resorts Ltd. have obtained BOI approvals to set up their hotels in Hikkaduwa, Bandarawela, Peradeniya and Wennappuwarespectably. These four new hotel projects will help the Government to achieve its target to build 75,000 rooms to cater to four million tourist arrivals by 2020.  

Two new agreements were signed to set up garments and related manufacturing projects with an investment of $ 15 million. A total number of 1300 direct job opportunities will be created through these two projects. EAM Maliban Textiles Ltd. and Yyonne Lanka Ltd. will set up to produce garments and garment accessories.

Sri Lanka is gaining global recognition as a centre for delivering IT as well as an emerging knowledge services industry. Hence new projects in information technology and business process outsourcing strengthen the local IT sector. Western Solution Ltd. and L S E G Business Services Colombo Ltd. will set up projects to develop software and provide information technology enable services and to provide business processing outsourcing services for international market.

Two agriculture projects have obtained approvals during April-May. Japan Lanka Agriculture Industrial Research & Training Centre Ltd. will set up a project to cultivate high quality vegetables for the export market and also establish an agriculture training institute in Divulapitiya. Value Plantation Ltd. will set up a project to produce value added tea for the export market.  The total estimated investment would be $ 14 million.

Three agreements were signed to set up mixed development projects in Colombo investing $ 144 million. Blue Mountain Colombo Ltd., A O D Properties Ltd. and M S A Shamsudeen Development Ltd.haveobtained BOI approvals in this sector.  

D & A Apparel Trading Ltd. signed to set up trading house to export garments and other textile products. Star Garments Group Ltd. signed to set up an export trading house to export Sri Lankan non-traditional products and to provide with designing services. The total investment of these two projects would be $ 7 million.

Bhagya Hospital Ltd. signed an agreement to set up and operate a hospital in Mahiyanganaya with an investment of $ 3.8 million.

Farmchem Manufacturers Ltd. signed an agreement to set up a project to manufacture veterinary pharmaceuticals for export market. This project representingan investment of $ 4.5 million will be located at the Industrial Zone, Homagama. Another enterprise, Batticaloa Campus Ltd., signed an agreement to set up a higher education Institute in Batticaloa.

When these projects are realised, they will contribute very significantly to the development of the Sri Lankan economy by boosting exports, increasing foreign exchange reserves, creating new employment opportunities and transferring technology.