Sri Lanka’s proximity to the Indian sub-continent positions the country as a gateway to a market of 1.9 billion people in South Asia. Sri Lanka provides great opportunities to enter into free trade and partnership agreements with several Asia’s trade powerhouses. Many foreign and local companies report a strong worker commitment to excellence in Sri Lanka, with rapid adaptation to quality standards. Sri Lanka has experienced significant improvements to available infrastructure which has been recognized as a national priority by successive governments. These include an ambitious program to develop and completely upgrade seaports around the island, the international airports, roads in the city of Colombo and highways connecting to other parts of the country and power and telecommunication facilities. Sri Lanka has entered in to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with 45 countries to eliminate or mitigate the incidence of juridical double taxation and avoidance of fiscal evasion in the international trade (or transactions). The country has also entered into 26 Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Treaties (BITs) so far, providing a protection to foreign investments within the country.

In the above context, several potential areas for investment can be explored by Germany as follows:

Shipping and logistics

Sri Lanka’s strategic location off the southern coast of India along the main east-west Indian Ocean shipping lanes gives it a regional logistical advantage for industries and services such as  shipping and logistics, Ship and vessel building, maritime services, energy and initiatives within the framework of the blue economy.

Tourism

The tourism industry has played a key role in establishing strong linkages between our countries. Excellent opportunities for investment exist in the tourism industry, which is attracting attention from foreign investors with the revival of the industry.

Apparel

Being a major pillar of the Sri Lankan economy for several decades, contributing significantly to exports and employment, Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers and suppliers have gained a strong reputation worldwide for ethical manufacturing of high-quality apparels trusted by the iconic global fashion brands.

IT

With more than 600 ICT export companies and employing 144,000 this is a growing industry with huge potential. It has strong IT infrastructure and relevant laws and regulations such as the Data Protection Act of 2022 is aligned with EU legal requirements.

Vocational education

The collaboration between the two countries in the field of vocational education goes back more than 65 years to the establishment in 1959 of the first Sri Lanka- German Technical Training Institute in Moratuwa. With such strong bilateral linkages in the vocational education sector, the government of Sri Lanka is looking forward to exploring mutually beneficial collaborations with Germany.

Other industries

There are several other potential areas such as Agriculture technologies, Medical and pharmaceutical industry, Automotive Component manufacturing, and Renewable Energy Technology, all of which offer good investment potential.