The Government is exploring the possibility of setting up a separate entity to promote and channel Foreign Direct investments (FDI) to Sri Lanka from the diaspora, said the Director General of Board of Investment Renuka Weerakone.
She said this proposed unit which is now awaiting the Cabinet nod will also look at attracting investments from Sri Lankan youth who are successfully employed overseas for a long period. “This would be mainly for SME ventures which range from agriculture, dairy and similar ventures.”
She also said they have found that several Sri Lankans working for top corporates and earning high salaries are keen to spend their retirement in Sri Lanka.
“We plan to offer them investment opportunities which will enable them to invest in Sri Lanka and actively get involved in doing business in Sri Lanka.”
She also identified the Tamil Diaspora as another key segment to woo to invest in Sri Lanka especially in the Northern Province where they have their ancestral roots. “We could attract around USD one billion as FDI from these initiatives.”
This new venture is expected to be jointly set up by the President’s Office, the BOI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who visited the United Kingdom to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, met members of the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Britain and appealed to them to look at the possibility of investing in Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe outlined the future plans of the Government and invited Sri Lankans living there to join the new investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.
“People of Sri Lankan origin living overseas are called the Diaspora. The Foreign Ministry is working on a project called the Diaspora Office Project and it will be under the President’s Office. But after some time it will come under the Foreign Ministry as it will take over international trade,” the President said in London.