by:Chaminda Rodrigo
Art Tv – Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is inviting foreign investors to put their money into the countries highly lucrative fishing sector which is still an under explored gold mine. Famously known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is surrounded by a highly resourceful sea which runs up to 200 Nautical miles.
Sri Lanka as of now harnesses around 200,000 metric tons of fish from its coastal areas but haven’t yet reached into harvest its rich deep sea and offshore areas which has greater fishing potential. Secretary to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Fisheries G. Piyasena says the potential in the deep sea and offshore area is around 150,000 metric tons of fish while most of them fall into the category of highly valued Tuna and Tuna like species. Lack of deep sea fishing vessels and mother vessels which can harvest the deep sea fishing resources is preventing the country from taking maximum advantage out of this resource.
However, now attempts are underway to bring in international investors to make use of this underutilized resource.
Areas investments are sought
Fishing sector infrastructure development such as developing new harbors, modernizing existing harbors, introducing mother vessels and deep sea fishing vessels and establishing fish processing plants are among the options investors can cash in.
Apart from that potential investors also can pump in their money to establish Cold chain systems which can be used as a part of supply chain solutions.
Incentives for investors
The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka the countries main investment portal is ready to offer potential foreign investors with income tax holidays running up to 3 to 7 years depending on the amount of money they bring into the country. An investor who pumps in just 250,000 US dollars to the fishing sector will receive a 3 year tax holiday while one who invests 500,000 us dollars will be given a 5 year tax holiday.
A US dollar 01 million investment will receive 7 years of income tax holiday while all categories will receive a life time duty free facility to import capital items and raw materials to carry out their project.
Strategic access to global fish markets
Sri Lanka is located strategically in the Indian Ocean with easy access to tuna resources and consumer markets such as Japan and Europe. As of now the countries fisheries sector only contributes just 1.1 percent to its GDP compared to its neighboring countries such as Maldives which contributes 6.2% and New Zealand which contributes 5.3%. In this backdrop experts and Sri Lankan fisheries officials believe the scope for investors is very high.