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German and Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, who met in Berlin on Tuesday, have expressed their collective optimism that business ties in the fields of investment in rubber industries, textiles the clothing industry and in information technology, would improve, the Media Ministry reported. Coinciding with the current official visit of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to Germany, a Business Round Table Conference was held on March 13 at the Federation of German Industries in Germany. A ten-member delegation from the private sector represented Sri Lanka at this discussion. Over fifty private sector business magnates representing German industry and commerce participated in this conference. The Sri Lankan President making the opening address at the conference observed that the “Vision 21” policy framework introduced by her government envisaged the transformation of Sri Lanka into a peaceful and prosperous nation. She added that Sri Lanka hoped to attain a high level of per-capita income through rapid and broad-based economic growth and expressed her gratitude to Germany for its continued support to achieve this goal. While touching on the economic relations between the two countries, the President placed on record that Germany was Sri Lanka’s second largest foreign investor next to Japan. Germany takes the fourth place in the tourism sector with tourist arrivals amounting to over 77,000 last year. “Our aim is to make Sri Lanka a financial hub in the region. We are committed to encouraging and protecting investment. There is a range of benefits for investors, ” President Kumaratunga added. “Sri Lanka is the most liberalised economy in South Asia. As a direct consequence of our business friendly policies, we have attracted more foreign investments in recent years.” “Sri Lanka’s legal framework governing foreign investment is another factor that encourages foreign companies to invest in Sri Lanka. The right of foreign companies to invest in our country is guaranteed by our Constitution. Moreover we have entered into investment protection and double taxation agreements with many countries including Germany.” “Furthermore, foreign companies investing in the production of export-oriented goods and services or in information technology are entitled to a wide range of tax holidays and other benefits, which are among the most attractive in Asia,” she added.
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