New agencies to fast track Sri Lanka investment approvals

May 04, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will fast track the approval of investment projects through the setting up of two new agencies, a state minister said in a statement.

“Ideally the time frame for approval of projects should be about two months,” Sujeewa Senasinghe, state minister, Development Strategies and International Trade, said. “The Government is taking proactive steps to address in the long term bottlenecks faced by investors by setting up two new Agencies namely the Agency for Development and the Agency for International Trade which are to be established shortly.” Senasinghe made these comments at a recently held investor forum where he met  with 11 existing investors to address issues when starting new projects or expanding existing investments under the Board Of Investment. He added that there are instances where it may take 3 to 4 years for projects to be resolved. "This is because additional approvals of other institutions and line agencies are required." The forum sought to resolve the issues faced by 11 enterprises. However for more complex cases the ministry has set up a higher committee consisting of senior officials of the ministries and the BOI, the statement said.

"Beyond that projects could also be examined by the Cabinet."