Sri Lanka attracts many Powerful Leisure brands
- Details
- Created on Friday, 08 June 2012 11:42
- Hits: 1137
“While some international brand names have already commenced investing in Sri Lanka there are further opportunities to exploit the market. There is a fundamental need for a coherent and enduring policy framework that fosters business.
The creation of such homogenous policies will support the entire nation to seize the remarkable opportunity created by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat of terrorism,” This has been stated by Harry Jayawardene, the Chief of the Aitken Spence in the Chairman’s Review of Aitken Spence Plc’s 2011/12 Annual Report.
He has called for meaningful public-private partnership which he has said is vital for Sri Lanka to reach its full economic potential and become a business hub. He says that the private sector led by the large Corporate, demonstrated utmost positivity and belief in Sri Lanka even during the war, and now with business conditions having undergone a post-war metamorphosis, it is imperative that the Government facilitates a level playing field to empower and encourage the private sector to achieve its ambitions.
He says that the continuous slump experienced by the traditional power bases of Europe and America offers Sri Lankan businesses an opportunity to push their boundaries and explore beyond our shores, and the time has come for Sri Lankan business to think big and firmly in placing our country on the international business landscape.
The Aitken Spence Chief has commended the one-stop-shop now operated by Sri Lanka Tourism for those interested in entering the industry. He says the facilitation body is a much-needed single point of contact and has clearly eased the processing and coordination complexities faced by investors.
He expresses hope that the unit will be strengthened further in the coming year, as many of the world’s most powerful leisure brands have shown genuine interest in entering the local market. Jayawardene further states that embracing the big names by wooing them with suitable land and other incentives is vital for a small country such as Sri Lanka, considering the benefits of shared destination marketing.
Focusing on the private sector itself, Jayawardena points out that in its efforts to help the country reach its full potential, the corporate sector must contribute to the equitable development of the north and east. Much effort has been made to encompass the newly-liberated areas in to the mainstream economy, but much more remains to be done. He has said that this is natural, given that the region must recoup 30 years of missed opportunities.(niz)
