COLOMBO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government is eyeing 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in 2020 and exports of 13.5 billion U.S. dollars, following improved policy stability, business confidence, tax cuts and a wide-ranging stimulus package, the Industrial Export and Investment Promotion Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said here on Tuesday.
Ranatunga said that while the final data for FDI and export performance for 2019 are still awaited, the 2020 targets suggest expectations of growth, higher than what has been seen in the preceding years.
“We are confident of increasing both exports and foreign investments," Ranatunga said.
" The government will explore new markets and products, while also looking at strengthening the existing export basket," the Minister added.
In the first 11 months of 2019, Sri Lanka's exports amounted to 11 billion U.S. dollars, marginally up by 0.8 percent from an year earlier.
FDI as per Central Bank data was 772 million dollars in the first 11 months, down from 1.6 billion in 2018.
The Sri Lankan government last month said that it will aim to increase investments from China and a few other leading countries in 2020.
The government said that some of the leading potential investors in Sri Lanka are China, India, Singapore, Australia and Japan.
