Sanjaya Mohottala, Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka highlighted two notable changes made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa with regard to the BoI viz at the presentation on Sri Lanka’s Economic Imperatives to an eminent group of participants at a webinar jointly organized by the Pathfinder Foundation and the Institute of South Asian Studies, of the National University of Singapore recently.
Among the participants were Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Singapore Ms. Shashikala Premaratne and High Commissioner of Singapore to Sri Lanka Mr. S. Chandradas.
Mohottala said that the two changes are (i) Elevating the BOI as an entity that provides direction to the national economy directly under the purview of the President and (ii) Creating a Cabinet Sub-Committee to address policy decisions needed to facilitate investments. He provided an overview of where Sri Lanka is as an economy, challenges it is facing, steps taken by the BoI and the Government to remove impediments in doing business, so as to create a conducive investment climate, and highlighted the sectors that are being prioritized to bring about inclusive growth to the country. He further clarified that the overall objective of the Government was to achieve 6% - 7% GDP growth in the next 10 years while managing the balance of payments issue that the country is currently facing and also making certain that the growth achieved would be inclusive.
Dr. Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) at the ISAS moderated the discussion and highlighted the impact that COVID – 19 was having on Sri Lanka and the countries in the region. The Question and Answer session included the sharp negative forecasts made by agencies such as the ADB and IMF on South Asian economies, particularly that of India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka’s exemplary handling of the pandemic but possibly at the cost of its economy; specific plans of Sri Lankan institutions to attract major Indian IT companies; Sri Lanka’s Ease of Doing Business ranking and the reorganizing of supply chains in the region and the opportunity it creates for Sri Lanka
This is the second of the series of joint webinars organized by the two organizations, which kicked off in late September where Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Foreign Secretary addressed a distinguished group of participants.
The presentation and discussion can be viewed at:
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