Investor attraction and facilitation are imperative for the economic progress of the country for which providing an investor friendly, legal, physical infrastructure and business environment is crucial, said National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) President Nandika Buddhipala who was elected the 62nd President of the chamber last week.
He said creating a conducive business environment would encourage the investors to take positive decisions. Consistency in policy framework, cross-border efficiencies, market size (local and through FTAs), favourable exchange rate policy, macroeconomic conditions and political stability would also bring in a positive note for investor decision making said “Increase of Foreign Direct Investment and domestic investments would deliver more jobs, better technology and productivity and expanded market opportunities, local and international. When large scale production takes place in the economy the surrounding ecosystem would be advanced offering development benefits to the economy,” Buddhipala said, adding that the National Chamber has been playing a trade and investor facilitation role in this aspect. He said the chamber receives inquiries from all over the world and we respond to each request and provide information and invite them to visit the country. “We keep all our membership and business community informed about the opportunities and arrange one to one business meetings. Further we direct them to the BOI, Export Development Board and Exchange Policy Authorities as necessary for further discussions.” “Lower interest rates reduced the burden on entrepreneurs who were facing various difficulties, while announced debt moratoria and working capital loan schemes provided concessions to businesses and individuals,” the chamber head said, adding that keeping local interest rate down would not only help local entrepreneurs to facilitate sustainability of their businesses and new investments but help the government to manage debt burden as well.
The National Chamber was established in 1948 to help develop local entrepreneurship in the post-independence era. SME development has been at the centre the chamber.
“Western Province Entrepreneurship Awards” for entrepreneurs of the Western Province has been held continuously from 2016 to date as requested by the National Enterprise Development Authority which opens the path for micro and small enterprises to reach national level and compete with larger scale business ventures ultimately through our flagship event, “The National Business Excellence Awards”, which has been conducted for the past 15 years.
“It is vital for SMEs and Micro SMEs in Sri Lanka to access overseas markets through a credible authentic web platform. By creating such a platform for Sri Lanka, the National Chamber believes that potential Sri Lankan products will reach their market destinations easily. To meet this need, the National Chamber has embarked on a nationally important mission to develop and professionally manage a web-based platform - fromSriLanka.com,” Buddhipala said.