Investment Opportunities in Sri Lanka showcased in London

PRESS RELEASE

Investment Opportunities in Sri Lanka showcased in London

Sri Lanka High Commission in London facilitated the 'Invest Sri Lanka Forum' organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Sri Lanka and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on 28, 29 and 31 March 2022 in London to promote foreign investment in Sri Lankan Stock Market and to showcase investment opportunities in leading listed companies in Sri Lanka.

The initial phase of the investment forum was held in partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) on 28 March 2022 at the LSEG premises in London with the participation of the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the UK Saroja Sirisena, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Sri Lanka Lord Davies of Abersoch, Chairman of the SEC Viraj Dayaratne, Chairman of the CSE Dumith Fernando and members of the listed companies and stock brokering firms, and the diplomatic staff of the Mission. Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral and senior officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka addressed the gathering virtually from Colombo.

Over 50 British companies comprised fund managers, venture capitalists, investment firms, financial institutions and corporate sector participated in the forum. This event featured a panel discussion by the senior officials of the SEC, CSE and Central Bank of Sri Lanka and also provided the UK companies an opportunity to conduct B2B meetings with the representatives from the stockbrokers of listed companies and to explore the capital market investments of Sri Lanka.

The High Commissioner in her welcome address highlighted that Sri Lanka has always been an attractive FDI destination due to its natural advantages and will remain a resilient economy in Asia which is currently the most stable and peaceful part of the world. She affirmed that it is the best time to invest in the trusted and reliable Colombo Stock Exchange.

Chairman of the SEC Viraj Dayaratne speaking at the event explained how SEC has been working towards enhancing market surveillance functions and supervisory functions to ensure that market integrity is maintained at all times and that all investors’ interests are looked after.

Chairman of CSE Dumith Fernando stated that over 70% of the listed companies on the CSE have debt to capital ratio under 50% and also market information shows record levels of investor participation in the market and every single Initial Public Offering last year was oversubscribed on the very first day. He also highlighted that the introduction of the CSE mobile app as a result of the end-to-end digitalisation of the CSE ensures that opening a Central Depository System account is now only a few steps away.

On 29 March 2022, a round table discussion was organised among members of the UK - Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce (UK-SLCC) and the Sri Lankan delegation. Over 30 members of the UK-SLCC who are representatives of British companies from a diversified range of sectors including food and beverages, banking, tourism, IT and FINTEC were able to carry out bilateral discussions with the Sri Lankan delegation.

The final phase of the investment forum was held in collaboration with the Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK on 31 March 2022 at the Sri Lanka High Commission premises. This event was organised to create awareness on the capital markets among the British-Sri Lankan professionals in the UK.

The High Commissioner and the senior officials of the SEC and CSE invited British-Sri Lankan professionals to continue to support Sri Lanka through investments.

High Commission of Sri Lanka
London

06 April 2022