The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Los Angeles, California, USA participated at the 8th Annual Business Seminar organized by the US Global Business Forum (USGBF) on a luxury Cruise from Newport Beach to Catalina Island on 16th May, 2013.
Mr. Kevin Kaul, Founder Chairman of the USGBF welcomed the participants and introduced the Forum’s global team. He said that this Annual Seminar would pave the way to interact with businessmen and promote each country’s trade, investment and tourism opportunities. The Chief Guest Mr. Gray Davis, former Governor of California stated that California is a promising and lucrative State in the USA for doing business.
Consul General of India based in San Francisco and Consuls General of Sri Lanka and Kenya based in Los Angeles were invited to address at this Seminar.
The Consul General of Sri Lanka Dr. Hector Weerasinghe made a comprehensive speech on Sri Lanka and its tourism, business and investment opportunities. He said that Sri Lanka is a small paradise with diverse history, rich culture and natural beauty. The eight UNESCO World Heritage sites and other ancient ruins in various parts of the Island, vouch for Sri Lanka’s long history, which is over 2500 years. The Island claims one of the diverse biological hotspots in Asia. It has 15 national parks showcasing an abundance of wildlife, lush tea estates in the hill country, 350 waterfalls, 250 acres of botanical gardens, which make the setting for tranquility of the nature. Sri Lanka’s most reputed offering is the hospitality of its people. The Consul General added that the Lonely Planet, the world’s most renowned and largest travel guide book and digital media publisher has named Sri Lanka as the number one travel destination in the world to visit in the year 2013, and according to another survey, Sri Lanka is one of the cheapest tourist destinations in the world.
The Consul General said that Sri Lanka is now on a rapid development footing, and there has been a tremendous growth in the economy. The economic growth was 8% for two consecutive years in 2010 and 2011. He said that Sri Lanka is regarded as a prime location for foreign investors to setup their business entities. Sri Lanka encourages Foreign Direct Investment in almost all the areas. The strategic location; prudent and pragmatic investment policies such as tax holidays coupled with relaxation of foreign exchange regulations, 100% repatriation of profits and dividends and access to financing; economic and political stability; low cost of doing business; talented and productive human resource pool; and fast developing infrastructure facilities have made Sri Lanka an enticing place for investment. Such investment is protected through the country’s constitution and bilateral agreements with investing countries. Our country’s imports have been liberalized; export control measures were eliminated; foreign exchange regulations were relaxed thereby creating a business friendly environment. These initiatives and consistency in our economic and trade liberalization policies under our President His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, have brought Sri Lanka much closer with the global partners.
The Consul General further stated that Sri Lanka is progressing towards becoming Asia’s business hub for naval operations, commercial activities, knowledge based industries, aviation activities and energy developments. By 2016, the strategic objectives of the country aims at US $ 4000 per capita income, GDP growth of 8.5%, 2.5 million tourist arrivals, increasing private sector investment to 24% of GDP and ICT literacy rate up to 75% and these are aligned with our major objective of becoming the most attractive business hub in Asia.
The Consul General Dr. Hector Weerasinghe invited the businessmen to visit Sri Lanka and see what a beautiful country it is and also to see the opportunities to invest in our country.
Consulate General of Sri Lanka
Los Angeles
20th May, 2013
