Colombo: The Sri Lankan government is eyeing $2.5 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and exports of $13.5 billion this year, following improved policy stability, business confidence, tax cuts, and a wide-ranging stimulus package, a Minister said here on Tuesday.
Industrial Export and Investment Promotion Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that while the final data for FDI and export performance for 2019 were still awaited, the 2020 targets suggest expectations of growth, higher than what has been seen in the preceding years, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We are confident of increasing both exports and foreign investments,” Ranatunga said.
“The government will explore new markets and products, while also looking at strengthening the existing export basket,” the Minister added.
In the first 11 months of 2019, Sri Lanka’s exports amounted to $11 billion, marginally up by 0.8 percent from a year earlier.
FDI as per Central Bank data was $772 million in the first 11 months, down from 1.6 billion in 2018.
The Sri Lankan government last month said that it would aim to increase investments from China and a few other leading countries in 2020.
The government said that some of the leading potential investors in Sri Lanka were India, China, Singapore, Australia and Japan.
