President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that immediate measures are being taken to create an investment-friendly environment in Sri Lanka and create economic stability.

The President said this addressing the gathering at the Mireka Tower Opening Ceremony at Havelock City in Wellawatte Thursday (20), where he was the Chief Guest.

The President also said that laws that had been introduced under the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) will be re-enacted to introduce an efficient system replacing the existing slow process, to encourage foreign investment.
The President further said that he had already appointed a committee to bring the Board of Investment (BOI), the Export Development Board (EDB) and the Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC) together onto one platform and establish one investment promotion agency to encourage foreign investment in Sri Lanka.

He further added that Sri Lanka needs to be made an investor-friendly country to attract foreign revenue and get out of the vicious cycle of foreign borrowing.

The statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe is as follows;
“This complex, Havelock City is a tribute to Mr S. P. Tao and his commitment to Sri Lanka. I told Mildred, now you are virtually a Sri Lankan citizen. So let’s think of where the next investment is going to be. I first got to know Mr Tao in 1994 as I became the Prime Minister. He had started at the World Trade Center and after President Premadasa passed away, the late Sirisena Cooray brought him along to meet me. That’s how our first contact started. I met him many times, and not only the late Mr S. P. Tao but also Mildred Tao. Then I must say, the commitment is such that during the attacks, a lot of people wanted to pull out.

Instead, when I asked Mr Tao, he said, ‘no, I’m going to stay here. So first, thank you for that confidence in Sri Lanka’s future. When you crossed over and I was Prime Minister in 2003, again, I met S.P. Tao and he has been meeting me on and off, and he wanted to start a new project.

The new project came along and they were looking at the Havelock town, Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mill land that was abandoned. So some people asked why we wanted to give it. We can have some industrial business there. But I said Havelock town started as a residential area. So let’s look at this. This will be the start of the Havelock city development.

-ADA DERANA