Sri Lanka to harness Austrian potential as a gateway to Central and Southeast European markets
In a quest to seek new foreign trade and investment partners shifting away from traditional markets, Sri Lanka is to harness the potential of Austria as a gateway to Central and Southeast European markets.
The country offers many concessions to foreign players considering investing in the local market and in recent years over 30 Austrian companies have entered the island and this trend is set to grow with the rapid improving of infrastructure facilities countrywide, Honorary Consul for Austria in Sri Lanka, Senaka Amarasinghe, who is also the Managing Director of Car Mart Ltd, told Business Times.
Austrian companies are showing a keen interest in bidding for major infrastructure development projects, while others have already undertaken construction projects in Sri Lanka, including the Greater Colombo sewerage system rehabilitation project, he revealed.
The Sri Lankan Government has entered into agreements with Austria on several major development projects including the supply of railway steel bridges and auxiliary supplies and services, construction of the Kochchikade Bridge, enhancement of facilities at the Advanced Technical Institute in Kandy and the provision of protective fences at railway crossings.
Austrian companies are already in operation in Sri Lanka in areas such as energy, environment, hospitals and healthcare, infrastructure and skill development.
The main business opportunities are offered in the energy and environmental sector, the hospital and healthcare system and infrastructure projects.
These companies provide high quality and tailored solutions that can also be helpful to Sri Lanka.
Joint venture projects to the tune of 94.5 million euros are already being implemented with the assistance of soft loans granted by Österreichische Kontrollbank, a senior government official disclosed.
One such project is a cardiac catheter centre in Colombo where Austria contributes its expertise, he said.
The Sri Lankan Government is carrying out a massive reconstruction programme in many areas of the country, and that there are many opportunities for further investment by Austrian companies, especially in tourism, power generation, agriculture and fisheries, he opined.
Austria has granted a US$100 million financial aid package for economic development in Sri Lanka. The package is in the form of a grant and a soft loan. The 65 million dollar soft loan portion will carry a 2 per cent interest and have to be repaid over a period of 30 years. The balance 35 million dollars will be a grant, he revealed.
Under the first phase of the aid programme drinking water projects, hospital modernization projects, railway and highway bridge construction projects will be carried out, he added.
Austria will provide assistance for Sri Lanka to initiate wind power generation projects.
The government has made a request from Austria to help Sri Lanka to start small scale wind power plants thereby enabling country to use them for agriculture and rural development.
It has also offered cooperation in the framework of the Anti-Corruption Academy and inter-religious dialogue to which Sri Lanka as a multi-religious and multi-ethnic state can provide valuable input, he pointed out.