BOI to be re-organised, re-branded and re-positioned
View(s):The Board of Investment (BOI), Sri Lanka’s premier investment promotion agency, is to be re-organised, re-branded and re-positioned to make the country the most preferred investment destination in the South Asian region, BOI officials said.
The new look BOI for which a blueprint has already been drawn up, would be more pro-active, focused, devoid of red-tape and corruption-free, they revealed.
BOI Executive Director – Research and Policy Advocacy Dr. Nihal Samarappuli told a media conference in Colombo on Tuesday that the re-organisation process of the BOI has already begun by establishing four functional departments to handle Promotion, Investment, Project implementation and Monitoring within the institution.
These changes have been made overnight after discussing modalities for one week with relevant officials, Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said adding, that suitable persons have been given positions to manage these four departments. IT base Project Facilitation Process will be implemented and investment project approvals will be fast tracked and the monitoring process will be streamlined with online tracking system. He said the government was also considering to provide tax incentives to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) and concentrate on improving the business climate to maximize the benefits of peace and infrastructure development as the main incentive to invest in Sri Lanka.
A new tax structure for FDIs would be introduced, a senior Finance ministry official said, adding, “The BOI tax incentive regime has resulted in an erosion of tax revenue as it has granted, and continues to grant, broad tax incentives.”
Minister Abeywardena noted that the BOI which was set up 36 years ago, would be transformed to a vibrant investment promotion agency to meet the present global needs.
The current outdated structure of the BOI is being changed, he said. Various special incentive schemes and programmes would be introduced specially for investors to start ventures in rural areas with the objective of facilitating and encouraging investors, so that investors could implement their projects in a hassle free atmosphere in Sri Lanka, he revealed.