US businessmen to meet in Sri Lanka

A second annual conference to attract US investment to Sri Lanka will be held in Colombo Oct 12-14, giving business executives a chance to expand businesses in the island.

The conference is organised by the Sri Lankan embassy in the US and the Office of the US Trade Representative, the US Department of Commerce, the US embassy in Colombo and the Sri Lanka Trade Ministry.

“Our first conference last year gave people a good look at Sri Lanka, and the potential for businesses there,” said Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the US.

“Now some of those businesses are planning to begin operations in Sri Lanka. We want to make sure that business people know the advantages of investing here,” he said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met US investors during a business development luncheon last week. He explained to them the benefits of doing business with Sri Lanka.

Those benefits include Sri Lanka’s free trade agreements with India and Pakistan that gives US businesses duty-free access to those large markets, as well as relaxed foreign investment regulations, Indian media reports.