'Hopes are high': Dubai event woos Emiratis, expats to invest in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is actively courting investors and expats in the UAE to pour in investments in the South Asian island country, with tourism, construction, logistics, and agriculture among the most attractive sectors.Officials, bankers, and fund managers also assured that streamlining governance frameworks, offering tax holidays and other incentives, digitisation of government services, and stabilising the political environment are making it more predictable for foreign capital.While investors with bigger portfolios can get their hands into big-ticket projects, ordinary Sri Lankan expats, meanwhile, can start with a couple of hundred US dollars to invest in mutual funds and have higher yield for their hard-earned money, a fund manager told Khaleej Times at the Invest Sri Lanka Investor Forum held in Dubai on Thursday.Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.Naveen Gunawardane, managing director and co-founder of Lynear Wealth Management, said a safe bet for UAE investors would be in the tourism and hospitality sector, but the focus should be more in the resort areas, with key hotspots including the Southern coast and Eastern belt of the island nation.“Tourism is very well invested in Sri Lanka,” noted Gunawardane, “If you look at hotels, there’s a lot of inventory in the Colombo area, but we haven't really had much inventory in terms of hotel rooms coming in the resort areas.”Naveen Gunawardane“There's a massive opportunity over the next couple of years for companies to set up hotels in the resort areas,” underscored Gunawardane, noting that developing more resort areas would offer international travelers who are seeking world-class experiences more choices other than Colombo.Another burgeoning industry is construction, according to Gunawardane, who said the following years of contraction in the sector, Sri Lankans with disposable income are now constructing and doing modifications to their houses.“More apartments are being constructed and, at the same time, the government has restarted a lot of the large infrastructure projects. So for the next two years, we are seeing a robust growth in construction,” he added.‘Very attractive destination’Prof Arusha Cooray, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UAE, also reiterated the call for more investments in her country. She told Khaleej Times at the same forum: “Sri Lanka is a very attractive destination to invest in, not just in terms of lifestyle, but a number of opportunities are now open given the reforms the government has laid down and the streamlining of the governance frameworks.”Ambassador Cooray identified logistics, ports, tourism, agriculture, IT, BPO services, energy, and renewable energy as attractive growth sectors.Arusha Cooray, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UAEIn particular for UAE investors, Cooray said there is an investment promotional protection act that forms a basis for increased investment between the UAE and Sri Lanka.“There are bilateral agreements that provide a strong legal foundation for investor protection. We have undertaken reforms, and we are looking for new investors, and I assure everyone now is the best time to invest in Sri Lanka,” noted Cooray, singling out Colombo Port City as a growing financial and trade hub.The ambassador also thanked the huge Sri Lankan expat community in the UAE. Noting that there are about 350,000 Sri Lankans in the UAE, the money they are sending to Sri Lanka accounts for around six per cent of the country’s annual GDP (gross domestic product), according to Cooray, who is also courting her countrymen to invest back home.‘More stable and predictable’Meanwhile, Chathuranga Abeysinghe, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, assured Sri Lanka is now “more stable and predictable.”During his speech, Abeysinghe cited his younger days when he was an activist who fought for regime change. Now that there is a new government, he assured that “hopes are high and the country is moving in the right path,” with law and order and needed reforms in politics and administration. Chathuranga AbeysingheHe noted Sri Lanka has exceeded its fiscal and economic targets in the past for two years, and the country is undertaking modernisation and digitisation of government services.The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, echoed the same view and said the country is enjoying the right balance of monetary policy that would see the economy growing at 5 to 7 per cent.P. Nandalal WeerasingheEmbassy of Sri Lanka works with travel agencies to promote Sri Lanka tourism in the UAESri Lanka economy reports 4.9% growth in second quarterSri Lanka expects economy to grow at 5%, repay all debt, says Dissanayake

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'Hopes are high': Dubai event woos Emiratis, expats to invest in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is actively courting investors and expats in the UAE to pour in investments in the South Asian island country, with tourism, construction, logistics, and agriculture among the most attractive sectors.

Officials, bankers, and fund managers also assured that streamlining governance frameworks, offering tax holidays and other incentives, digitisation of government services, and stabilising the political environment are making it more predictable for foreign capital.

While investors with bigger portfolios can get their hands into big-ticket projects, ordinary Sri Lankan expats, meanwhile, can start with a couple of hundred US dollars to invest in mutual funds and have higher yield for their hard-earned money, a fund manager told Khaleej Times at the Invest Sri Lanka Investor Forum held in Dubai on Thursday.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

Naveen Gunawardane, managing director and co-founder of Lynear Wealth Management, said a safe bet for UAE investors would be in the tourism and hospitality sector, but the focus should be more in the resort areas, with key hotspots including the Southern coast and Eastern belt of the island nation.

“Tourism is very well invested in Sri Lanka,” noted Gunawardane, “If you look at hotels, there’s a lot of inventory in the Colombo area, but we haven't really had much inventory in terms of hotel rooms coming in the resort areas.”

“There's a massive opportunity over the next couple of years for companies to set up hotels in the resort areas,” underscored Gunawardane, noting that developing more resort areas would offer international travelers who are seeking world-class experiences more choices other than Colombo.

Another burgeoning industry is construction, according to Gunawardane, who said the following years of contraction in the sector, Sri Lankans with disposable income are now constructing and doing modifications to their houses.

“More apartments are being constructed and, at the same time, the government has restarted a lot of the large infrastructure projects. So for the next two years, we are seeing a robust growth in construction,” he added.

‘Very attractive destination’

Prof Arusha Cooray, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UAE, also reiterated the call for more investments in her country. She told Khaleej Times at the same forum: “Sri Lanka is a very attractive destination to invest in, not just in terms of lifestyle, but a number of opportunities are now open given the reforms the government has laid down and the streamlining of the governance frameworks.”

Ambassador Cooray identified logistics, ports, tourism, agriculture, IT, BPO services, energy, and renewable energy as attractive growth sectors.

In particular for UAE investors, Cooray said there is an investment promotional protection act that forms a basis for increased investment between the UAE and Sri Lanka.

“There are bilateral agreements that provide a strong legal foundation for investor protection. We have undertaken reforms, and we are looking for new investors, and I assure everyone now is the best time to invest in Sri Lanka,” noted Cooray, singling out Colombo Port City as a growing financial and trade hub.

The ambassador also thanked the huge Sri Lankan expat community in the UAE. Noting that there are about 350,000 Sri Lankans in the UAE, the money they are sending to Sri Lanka accounts for around six per cent of the country’s annual GDP (gross domestic product), according to Cooray, who is also courting her countrymen to invest back home.

‘More stable and predictable’

Meanwhile, Chathuranga Abeysinghe, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, assured Sri Lanka is now “more stable and predictable.”

During his speech, Abeysinghe cited his younger days when he was an activist who fought for regime change. Now that there is a new government, he assured that “hopes are high and the country is moving in the right path,” with law and order and needed reforms in politics and administration.

He noted Sri Lanka has exceeded its fiscal and economic targets in the past for two years, and the country is undertaking modernisation and digitisation of government services.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, echoed the same view and said the country is enjoying the right balance of monetary policy that would see the economy growing at 5 to 7 per cent.