BOI celebrates 40th anniversary; felicitates employees

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka felicitated its long standing employees by providing them with a token of appreciation at a ceremony which was held at the BOI auditorium recently.  
Upul Jayasuriya, Chairman of the BOI formally presented the prizes to 20 long standing employees who are working at different departments and export processing zones. Duminda Ariyasinghe, Director General of BOI and the senior staff members of BOI also participated at 
this function. 
Addressing at this function Upul Jayasuriya, spoke of his long association with the BOI having contributed to formulating the GCEC Act as a young lawyer by assisting the late Paul Perera who was one of the pioneer Director Generals. 
He further stated that there was no opposition by the people when acquiring lands to set up the Katunayake export processing zone which is the first EPZ in the country. He thanked the employees who have made an immense contribution to make the BOI the engine of growth of 
the country.   
The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The BOI was established in 1978 as the Greater Colombo Economic Commission. In 1992, the Commission was reconstituted as the Board of investment of Sri Lanka. The BOI is the investment promotion agency of the Government of Sri Lanka and Its main functions is to attract foreign and domestic investment into the economy with the objective of bringing in capital, creating job opportunities and encouraging the development of new skills. The primary objectives of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission the predecessor of the BOI, were mentioned and included speeding up and encouraging the country’s economic development, strengthening and widening the scope of economic institutions, increasing  and encouraging foreign investment in Sri Lanka, easing procedures for the inflow of foreign exchange earnings, enhancing export earnings and encouraging the formation of industrial and commercial establishments to 
spearhead development.
The BOI owns and manages 12 export processing zones around the Island. These are large and modern facilities where entrepreneurs can set up industrial plants and factories and at the same time enjoy the facilities provided by the zones such as water supply, telecommunications and power.