• American companies will also be looking very much at the question of transparency in the system, and it goes back to the point about the interconnection between investment and the political situation

By Kelum Bandara  

Visiting U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, in response to a query about the investment climate of Sri Lanka, stressed the need to speed up work to set up a single window or one-stop- shop to facilitate investments.  

In an interactive session with a select group of journalists, he said American companies look at the situation, economics and decide on their own when investing, and his message to the government is to create certainty for American companies about their investments in the country.   

“And so what we will do is encourage American companies to look at the situation in Sri Lanka and make a determination about investment.

  But what we’ve said to – the message to the Sri Lankan government -is the best way to achieve that is to make sure that an American company making an investment can be certain about its stability; that they’ll be able to essentially get the benefit of their agreement; that things won’t change midstream,” he said.  

He said American companies will also be looking very much at the question of transparency in the system, and it goes back to the point about the interconnection between investment and the political situation.  

“I think U.S. companies will be looking at whether or not the government of Sri Lanka is making progress on the fronts that we talked about earlier in terms of political reform, reconciliation. These are all important contributing factors,” he said.  

The U. S. senator who was in Sri Lanka 50 years ago when his father was the U.S. ambassador rekindled his memories related to the celebration of the 25th anniversary of bilateral ties with then Prime Minister the late Sirimawo Bandaranaike.   

“And I just brought a few mementos to prove I was actually here at the time. One is this brochure that my father put together on the occasion of the 25th anniversary, spelling out the history of friendship between the United States and Sri Lanka. And as you probably know, the history runs deep. And Mrs. Bandaranaike, was the Prime Minister at the time. And on the occasion of the 25th anniversary, my father presented this booklet to her, and it was on our National Day. As I prepared for this trip, I went through a lot of archives, and I came upon this picture which is my father, my mother, Prime Minister Bandaranaike, me, and my two sisters,” he said, referring to them.  

He said he remembered the Kandy Perahera. He rushed to Kandy yesterday to see the Perahera once again, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung.