Govt. ready to establish 44 industrial zones across the country
The government is in the process of establishing 44 industrial zones in all nine provinces and it has already identified areas and locations for them, International Trade State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe said yesterday.
During an observation tour to Export Promotional Zones in Katunayake, Biyagama and Awissawella he told Board of Investment (BOI) officials that the project would be a boost to the National Unity Government’s ambitious plan to create one million job opportunities in the manufacturing sector in the next five years.
“The inefficiency, unnecessary tax, red tape and corruption under the previous regime prevented foreign investors from investing in Sri Lanka. Politicians and officials spoke to investors not on the merits and demerits of the investment but about the share they got from the investments. But the situation has been fully changed now and under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, investors are free to bring in their project proposals, submit it to the BOI, get approval in the shortest possible time sans red tape and kickbacks and get the projects off the ground. Therefore, the government invited foreign investors to visit Sri Lanka with their project plans and the BOI will take care of them to their utmost satisfaction,” Minister Senasinghe said.
He said each industrial zone would get its own characteristic to produce goods using the raw
Politicians and officials spoke to investors not on the merits and demerits of the investment but about the share they got from the investments. But the situation has been fully changed now under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
material and human resources of that particular zone. But the goods must be necessarily of high quality with value addition that could compete in the global market.
For instance, industrial zones in Trincomalee, Vanni and Kilinochchi will manufacture fisheries and allied products for export, Colombo as a maritime, aviation supply service and financial services centre, Kandy, Galle and Jaffna as IT and other technological industries. There will also be a hub for gem and jewellery exports and so forth, he added.
Minister Senasinghe said there would also be 23 specialized zones for agri-based products for rice, rubber, tea, coconut, fruits, animal husbandry and other export products such as flowers. Two specialized zones will be created in Mahaweli zones.
That will be on the Right bank of Mahaweli system B which will have 800 hectares and 12,000 hectares in system A. There will be separate manufacturing units for lorries, busses, motor cars and motor cycles. BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya accompanied Minister Senasinghe during the tour.