State Minister Balasuriya and BOI woo French investment to Sri Lanka

State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya (centre) 

State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, along with Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Sanjay Mohottala, carried out a series of business meetings in France last week on the sidelines of the IFTM TopRESA Travel mart that took place in Paris.

This included a series of high-level meetings with a number of companies ranging from hospitality, manufacturing, and development finance.

As part of a recently concluded series of nearly 20 high-level discussions held in France, the delegation met with officials of Accor Hotels and Club Med Resorts.

In addition, there were also meetings with a number of leading financial institutions, including the French Development Agency-owned Proparco, as well as Lazard, a leading financial advisory and asset management firm, and the Eiffel Investment Group.

The delegation also met senior officials from the Michelin and Movarc Group to explore the possibility of expanding their footprint in Sri Lanka, thereby contributing to the manufacturing economy that is currently seeing growth in terms of exports. In addition to the business and trade related meetings, State Minister Balasuriya also met with members of the Sri Lanka-France Parliamentary Friendship Association at the Senate premises, which was followed by a meeting with UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Creative Economy Ernesto Ramirez on obtaining assistance to further develop Sri Lanka’s creative sector.