Foreign Direct investment in Sri Lanka or FDI in Sri Lanka has come along a long way since the past few years. Sri Lanka and its government has taken in several steps and precautions to attract the interest level of foreign investors to invest more in the various business sectors available all over Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Government has made the business registration procedures more simpler and ease to understand for the foreign investors and business owners. This eventually helped the Foreign investors to gain more interest over the Sri Lankan local business. Thus, as a result of all these steps taken in the ultimate outcome of the Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka is as follows — In the year of 2017, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Sri Lanka grew to a maximum of $1,710 billion including foreign loans taken in by various foreign business companies registered with the BOI, more than to that of $801 million achieved in the previous year of 2016. Yet it is highly believed that there are still several ways of business policies left or can be introduced to attract more FDI in Sri Lanka.
Let us now look into some of the crucial barriers or limitations for Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka:
Well it is a common phenomenon that there are somewhat boundaries and limitations set over different business policies that is ran by foreign investors in every individual country so is in Sri Lanka. Thus, Sri Lanka and their government has set off certain limitations and barriers over foreign direct investment policies for investors that must be obeyed and maintained by all these foreign companies. Some of the business policies that are not permitted under FDI in Sri Lanka are given below:
- Money Lending
- Pawn Brokerage
- Retail Trade
- Coastal fishing
- Security services and Security Management
