SLTDA inks MoU with several govt. agencies to expedite tourism investment approvals

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) entered into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with eight government agencies yesterday, to speed up the approval process of tourism investment projects.

The MoUs were inked with the Central Environmental Authority, Wildlife Department, Forest Department, Archaeological Department, Irrigation Department, Agrarian Development Department, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department and National Building Research Organisation.

To facilitate the endeavour, the Board of Investment (BOI) previously entered into agreements with the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, under the said programme.

Plans are afoot for the Merchant Shipping Secretariat and Civil Aviation Authority to enter into agreements with the Colombo Municipal Council in the near future, the Tourism Ministry said.
Similarly, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and National Water Supply and Drainage Board will come on board to help expedite the necessary approval process for tourism projects and negotiations are underway for the same.The entire approval process will be facilitated by the Investment Relations Unit, under the SLTDA. In an effort to streamline the process, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga shared that an application that contains the necessary information and details required by the 15 active government agencies in approving tourism investments would be made public soon.

Furthermore, an automated tourism investment project management system is currently being developed and will be launched this May.
Planned are also training programmes for those involved in the approval process, so that all issues are ironed out for the potential investors.

“The investors will be made aware of the enhanced process while we also have a marketing campaign coming up that is aimed at increasing tourism investment,” Ranatunga said.
From October 2010 to December 2021, a total of 1,006 tourism investment proposals were received by the ministry but only 457 projects received approval, the Tourism Ministry said.