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BOI
receives Superbrands Status
The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, the autonomous statutory
body for facilitating foreign direct investments, has been
awarded the prestigious Superbrands status by the Superbrand
Organisation under the Business-to-Business category.
The Superbrands Organization is an international organization
headquartered in London with operations in more than 30 countries.
The organisation evaluates and awards Superbrand status in
consultation with local business leaders based on criteria
such as quality, reliability & trust, distinction, reputation
and prestige.
The award recognizes the effective role played by the BOI
in Sri Lanka’s economic landscape, Dhammika Perera, Chairman
and Director General of the BOI said. He said the award will
be an impetus to attracting strategic investments beneficial
to the country in areas such as employment, export growth
and transfer of technology, and positioning Sri Lanka as a
profitable destination for would-be investors in South Asia.
During the last two years, the BOI has significantly increased
the foreign direct investments to Sri Lanka. FDIs have increased
from US$287 million (2005) to US$ 603mn (2006) and US$734mn
(2007). The BOI is targeting US$1 billion in FDI this year.
The Superbrand award was accepted by Duminda Ariyasinghe,
Executive Director, Investment Promotion of the BOI from Steve
Dodgson the COO of Superbrands International at the Tribute
event held recently at Cinnamon Grand Hotel on behalf of the
Chairman/DG, Dhammika Perera.
The BOI is a self-supporting government agency that does not
rely on Treasury for funds. The BOI has spearheading innovative
models including the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model
to develop capital intensive infrastructure projects such
as new zones.
The BOI, since its inauguration in 1978 as the Greater Colombo
Commission has acted as the facilitator for FDI. It has been
a catalyst of economic and social changes in Sri Lanka. BOI
provides advice and assistance at each stage of investment
to investors. Some of the key steps include: Providing information
and guidance before submission of project application and
coordinating approvals from other agencies; Evaluating applications
and giving concessions; Providing assistance during the start
up of the project: site selection and clearance, advice on
factory building etc; Making recommendations to immigration
authorities for issuing resident visas; Facilitating import/export
clearance and Customs procedures for import of capital goods
etc.
The BOI will continue to assume a key role in the country’s
future economic development. Its future role will be influenced
by various factors and challenges such as external economic
environment, growing competition for foreign direct investment
in the South Asian region as well as Sri Lanka’s competitiveness
and investment environment.
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