Business News from Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe opened on last Saturday at Lewwanduwa, Welipenna, the world-renowned Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd of India and Ideal Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd of Sri Lanka, the first-ever joint automotive assembly plant in Sri Lanka.
The Premier said Sri Lanka would one day become an export-oriented country by creating more such manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka.
He said the main goal of the government in the coming years was to create more Sri Lankan manufacturers to produce many goods and provide services to the local and overseas markets.
Wickremesinghe said it would not only create direct job possibilities for Lankan youth and indirect job opportunities for others, but also increase the economy of the country that would swell to a higher extent.
The Premier said the government had already begun work on the industrial parks in Bingiriya, Hambantota, and Kandy, and with the opening of the KKS, Jaffna Industrial Zone, more job opportunities would be opened for thousands of youth and more foreign exchange would be brought to Sri Lanka.
He said the tourism industry is also showing important improvement with the prevailing peaceful atmosphere.
The Premier said the combination of Mahindra-Ideal Lanka is a good instance for all Sri Lankan producers and he anticipated more and more Lankan companies to follow suit to start investments for the motherland’s sake.
He also ensured that in the years to come with the blessings of Indian PM Narendra Modi, Sri Lanka would start more financial enterprises with India.
High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that this type of investment would further reinforce financial bonds between India and Sri Lanka and thanked Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. for their long-standing undertaking in partnership with Ideal Lanka.
Ideal Motors Chairman Nalin Welgama said this novel undertaking is an investment of Rs. 3 billion and he intended to assemble a passenger vehicle while creating more job opportunities for the country’s youth. Aravinda de Silva, Deputy Chairman of Ideal Motors, asked the Prime Minister to encourage the younger generation of Sri Lanka to start such enterprises in the nation.
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd., Managing Director Dr. Pavan Goenka said the inauguration of the Automotive Assembly Plant is an important milestone for Mahindra’s foray into the Sri Lankan industry and said that this assembly plant would not only add to Sri Lanka’s economic development, but also create important job possibilities.
