Sri Lanka’s Agency for Development gets off the ground soon
By Bandula Sirimanna
The much-awaited Sri Lanka’s Agency for Development is to be established within the next two months to fast-track, streamline and attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), official sources disclosed. The Development Special Provisions Bill which provides provisions to set up this agency will be presented in parliament soon. This agency has a specific task of attracting more FDIs to the country without delay and all arrangements have been made to commence its operations, a senior official said adding that the Prime Minister has at a recent high-level meeting issued a directive to launch it as soon as possible.
A high-powered committee appointed to work out modalities of the agency has already developed its structure as a one stop shop for FDIs with powers to obtain approvals of relevant agencies for foreign investors. Several mega FDI projects in IT, tourism, agriculture (especially sugarcane), telecommunications, digitalisation and industrial sectors are in pipeline for approval since the past two months, government officials said. These will receive the greenlight soon following the establishment of the Agency for Development chaired by economist Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy and Managing Director (designate) Mangala Yapa, the official said.
The government will regulate and properly plan development activities in the country with the aim of accelerating economic growth and finalise the promotion of FDI s through this new agency, moving away from the present system of foreign investment project approvals. The proposed new bill will remove the obstacles facing investors and businesses concerning obtaining of land and buildings. Provisions of the draft bill also provide for land ownership to be given to registered investors who meet the required criteria, without being affected by the Land Restriction and Alienation Act.
The government will also completely revamp the Board of Investment (BOI) to suit modern needs as it was re-structured to the present institution from the Greater Colombo Economic Commission Model which was set up in 1978. Although it was re-constituted as the BOI in 1992, it has not undergone any major re-structuring during the past two decades. A major change in the attitude of the staff is also needed to achieve positive results from the institution, officials added. However, it looks like year 2016 (based on the performance so far) will only have 0.3 per cent of the GDP as the total FDI. This means a historically low FDI performance, a senior economist told the Business Times.
Fri Jul 19, 2024 10:30 am by faithhharris
» CCS.N0000 ( Ceylon Cold Stores)
Wed Mar 20, 2024 11:31 am by Hawk Eye
» Sri Lanka plans to allow tourists from August, no mandatory quarantine
Wed Sep 13, 2023 12:16 pm by lauryfriese
» When Will It Be Safe To Invest In The Stock Market Again?
Wed Apr 19, 2023 6:41 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Dividend Announcements
Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:41 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» MAINTENANCE NOTICE / නඩත්තු දැනුම්දීම
Thu Apr 06, 2023 3:18 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» ඩොලර් මිලියනයක මුදල් සම්මානයක් සහ “ෆීල්ඩ්ස් පදක්කම” පිළිගැනීම ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ ගණිතඥයා
Sun Apr 02, 2023 7:28 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» SEYB.N0000 (Seylan Bank PLC)
Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:25 am by yellow knife
» Here's what blind prophet Baba Vanga predicted for 2016 and beyond: It's not good
Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:25 am by HaeroMaero
» The Korean Way !
Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:09 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» In the Meantime Within Our Shores!
Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:51 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What is Known as Dementia?
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:09 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» SRI LANKA TELECOM PLC (SLTL.N0000)
Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:18 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» THE LANKA HOSPITALS CORPORATION PLC (LHCL.N0000)
Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:10 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Equinox ( වසන්ත විෂුවය ) !
Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:28 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» COMB.N0000 (Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:11 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» REXP.N0000 (Richard Pieris Exports PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:02 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» RICH.N0000 (Richard Pieris and Company PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:53 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Do You Have Computer Vision Syndrome?
Sat Mar 18, 2023 7:36 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» LAXAPANA BATTERIES PLC (LITE.N0000)
Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:23 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What a Bank Run ?
Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:33 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» 104 Technical trading experiments by HUNTER
Wed Mar 15, 2023 4:27 pm by katesmith1304
» GLAS.N0000 (Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC)
Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:45 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Cboe Volatility Index
Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:32 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» AHPL.N0000
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:46 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» TJL.N0000 (Tee Jey Lanka PLC.)
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:43 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» CTBL.N0000 ( CEYLON TEA BROKERS PLC)
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:41 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC (COMD. N.0000))
Fri Mar 10, 2023 4:43 pm by yellow knife
» Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:47 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» CSD.N0000 (Seylan Developments PLC)
Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:38 am by yellow knife
» PLC.N0000 (People's Leasing and Finance PLC)
Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:02 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Bakery Products ?
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:30 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» NTB.N0000 (Nations Trust Bank PLC)
Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:24 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Going South
Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:47 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» When Seagulls Follow the Trawler
Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:22 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Re-activating
Sat Feb 25, 2023 5:12 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» අපි තමයි හොඳටම කරේ !
Tue Feb 14, 2023 3:54 pm by ruwan326
» මේ අර් බුධය කිසිසේත්ම මා විසින් නිර්මාණය කල එකක් නොවේ
Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:43 pm by ruwan326
» SAMP.N0000 (Sampath Bank PLC)
Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:24 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» APLA.N0000 (ACL Plastics PLC)
Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:49 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» AVOID FALLING INTO ALLURING WEEKEND FAMILY PACKAGES.
Wed Nov 16, 2022 9:28 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Banks, Finance & Insurance Sector Chart
Tue Nov 15, 2022 5:26 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» VPEL.N0000 (Vallibel Power Erathna PLC)
Sun Nov 13, 2022 12:15 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» DEADLY COCKTAIL OF ISLAND MENTALITY AND PARANOID PERSONALITY DISORDER MIX.
Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:36 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» WATA - Watawala
Sat Nov 05, 2022 8:44 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» KFP.N0000(Keels Food Products PLC)
Sat Nov 05, 2022 8:42 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Capital Trust Broker in difficulty?
Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:25 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» IS PIRATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY A BOON OR BANE?
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:13 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What Industry Would You Choose to Focus?
Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:39 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Should I Stick Around, or Should I Follow Others' Lead?
Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:07 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා