New agency to replace export and investment facilitating entities

• A single agency to replace BOI, EDB, SLECIC and NEDA among others
• Budget 2023 allocates Rs.100mn for establishment of new entity

Sri Lanka would be taking renewed efforts to streamline foreign investment and export processes by bringing all the relevant agencies on to a single platform, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said. 

Budget 2023 entailed a proposal where a new agency would be set up in place of the Board of Investment (BOI), Export Development Board (EDB), Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC), National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) and other entities that support exports and investments. 

The new agency will be established with the enactment of a new law and an allocation of Rs.100 million.  
The investors and stakeholders of the export sector have been repeatedly stressing on the need for streamlined processes. Despite the several attempts made previously by setting up one-stop shops, such establishments have been a failure, doing little or nothing to speed up 
the processes. 

The common issue cited by the industry stakeholders is the duplication of processes and the poor coordination between the line agencies.  The issue was acknowledged by Wickremesinghe in his budget speech made in Parliament yesterday, where he pointed out that for some time, the coordination issues associated with the government agencies working for external trade and investment affect the performance of the country’s exports.

While there are several incentive programmes implemented by the government agencies to encourage exporters at present, Wickremesinghe stressed it is important to set up a single agency, enabling to create a conducive environment for promoting investment and external trade.