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The commercial links between Sri Lanka and Singapore has a long history.  Even in the mediaeval days through the silk route Sri Lanka had excellent trade links with its regional allies.  In the modern commercial world with globalization and internationalization of businesses the countries have developed into a almost borderless network.  Sri Lanka and Singapore have healthy bilateral trade with over S$ 1.2 billion in 2007 and Singapore is a convenient supply source to Sri Lanka.  Further, Singapore has projected herself as an easy access for investments and Sri Lanka extends maximum cooperation and incentives to the foreign investors.

The Commercial Section of the High Commission is geared to strengthen the existing links and to create new areas of cooperation in the commercial fields between Singapore and Sri Lanka.  To facilitate this following main activities are being handled by this section.

• Servicing trade and investment inquiries

• Providing trade information such tariff, technical requirements, import regulations etc.

• Intervening in trade disputes with a view to arrive at amicable settlements

• Organising Sri Lanka’s participation in trade fairs & exhibitions

• Organising inward and outward trade mission and visits

• Promoting investments into Sri Lanka

• Providing information on investment opportunities, facilities and incentives offered to   investors

• Assisting Sri Lankan businessmen in their business activities in Singapore

• Organising government to government meetings as and when necessary

• Maintaining a close relationship with all  trade chambers and other associations

Information on following areas are available from www.srilankabusiness.com (Sri Lanka Export Development Board) and www.doc.gov.lk (Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka)

• Sri Lanka Products

• Potential Markets

• Trade Policy

• Sri Lanka Trade Guide

• Free Trade Agreements – (www.doc.gov.lk)

• Trade related websites

Information on Investment Opportunities is available from www.boi.lk (Board of Investment of Sri Lanka).

This site provides extensive information on the following areas;

• Board of Investment of Sri Lanka

• Geographical Location

• Human Resources

• Quality of Life

• Business Environment

• Investment Opportunities

• Bureau of Infrastructure Investment

 Information on Imports & Customs Procedures are on www.customs.gov.lk (Sri Lanka Customs).  This website provides extensive information on the following areas;

• Procedures on Imports

• Procedures on Exports

• Information on tariff

• Information on Bonds

• Information on Enforcement

• Laws & Regulations

• Statistics

• Other related matters

 The Port of Colombo has now developed into one of the best ports in Asia handling both conventional cargo and containers.  Port of Colombo has been acknowledged as one of the most economical ports in the region.  Information on Port facilities and related services are available on www.slpa.lk (Sri Lanka Ports Authority).  This websites provides extensive information on the following areas;

• EDI Facilities

• Bonded Warehousing

• Duty Free Shopping

• Fully Equipped Berths

• Competitive Rates

• Base for Transshipment

• Vehicle Transshipment

• Bulk Handling

• Conventional Cargo

TRADE STATISTICS

The trade statistics given below are obtained from the IE Singapore (www.iesingapore.com) Statistical Bulletin.  There may be contradictions when compared with statistics obtained from Sri Lanka sources.  This is due to obvious but unavoidable reasons.

Annual Report for Singapore’s Imports from Sri Lanka   - 2007

Top 25 Products

Value in S$ Thousand, Qty in actual number

Annual Report for Singapore’s Exports to Sri Lanka - 2007

Top 25 Products
Value in S$ Thousand, Qty in actual number

THE IT INDUSTRY IN SRI LANKA

The principal areas identified for promotion by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) in the IT sector are;

•  - Software Development

• - E-commerce

• - IT Training

 IT Infrastructure

Several BOI approved software companies have earned international recognition by successfully developing a variety of sophisticated software application for international clients.  These include EDS Development (Pvt) Ltd, the largest independent software houses in South East Asia and the United Kingdom, and Virtusa Corporation – one of the fastest growing software services firms in the US with seven years of consecutive growth.  It is in addition largest technology center based in Sri Lanka.  Millennium Information Technologies, a wholly – Sri Lanka owned enterprise that was responsible for the successful implementation of the world’s first event-driven trading exchange at the Colombo Stock Exchange and Informatics – a local company whose telecom product is in operation at the regional sites of some of the world’s leading telecom operators, such as Cable & Wireless of UK and Millicom of Luxembourg.

Sri Lanka is building up its pool of skilled graduates in computer programming and software engineering.  The national university curriculum in computer studies is ranked as being comparable to some of the leading institutions in the world and the government has actively encouraged computer literacy by providing duty concession on all hardware imports.

The country’s competitive advantage and advanced infrastructure facilities have also contributed to the growth of offshore back office operations and development units which have thrived since the early 1980s.  The Lanka also serves as the headquarters for one of the world’s largest software development companies in South East Asia.

Software development is carried out with the most advanced programming languages.  This is complemented by modern data transmission and telecommunication systems.  Value-added services including radio paging, Web masters, cellular networks and data communications service providers have already taken advantage of the country’s liberalized economic environment.

Sri Lanka has intrinsic strengths, which cold make it a major success as a call center outsource destination.  Some of the internationally known names that have already set up operation in Sri Lanka include HSBC, Astron, Office Tiger, VNS Global, WPA (Western Provident Association) and Hellocorp.  The reasons that decided them to invest in Sri Lanka are as follows;

•  The existence of a competitive workforce of educated English speaking, tech-savvy personnel of tremendous importance in a high growth industry faced with a shortage of skilled workers.

•  A cost effective manpower force in a call center operation, manpower typically accounts for a 55 to 60 percent of the total cost.  In Sri Lanka the manpower cost is approximately one tenth of what it is overseas.  Per agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in Sri Lanka it is only $5,000.

•  Technical support: Hundreds of engineers graduates are available in Sri Lanka.  These can be used in call centers for troubleshooting/tech support, given that their salaries are much lower than in Europe or the US.

•  The government of Sri Lanka has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

•  The presence of many international technology vendors and solutions would enable creation of the most advanced set-ups in this technology intensive segment.

New Investment Opportunities in the IT Industry

 Data Hosting Centres – where data that is accessed by a wide region is hosted n one secure location, i.e Sun Micro Systems Hosting Centres in Singapore, HSBC data hosting for the Asia Pacific Region is located in Dubai

 Internet Hosting Centres – Hosting for traffic heavy internet applications and web pages such as international portal sites such as yahoo.com.  High Level internet service providers such as Exodus and other service providers such as AOL are included in this category.

 E-Commerce – Trade of products and services through the internet using electronic and other means of transaction.

 M-Commerce – Trade of products and services through mobile phone and internet using electronic and other means of transaction.

 E-Maintenance – Where systems are monitored and maintained through remote operators.

 Application Services Providers – where the providers are paid for a complete service rather than certain products or services over an agreed period of time.

Disaster Recovery – where systems are located in different ares and are connected via a certain network as backup system in case of a disaster or shutdown in one area.

 Distance Learning – Online Degrees and other programs provide a cost effective learning method for a country like Sri Lanka.

 Institutional Setup

 Key ICT Organizations / Associations

•  ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka)

Website : www.icta.lk

Email  : infor@icta.lk

• SLIT (Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology)

Website : www.sliit.lk

Email : infor@sliit.lk

• TRC (Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka)

Website : www.trc.gov.lk

Email : dgtsl@trc.gov.lk

• Sri Lanka Association for the Software Industry (SLASI)

The Sri Lanka Association for the Software industry (SLASI) is the national representative fot he country’s software industry.  The Association was established in 1992 with the support of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) and the Council for Information Technology (CINTEC).

 In January 1996, SLASI joined hands with the Sri Lanka Computer Vendors Association (SLCVA) and the Association of Computer Training Organization (ACTOS) to form the Federation of Information Technology Institutions (FITIS).

Website : www.slasi.com                   

Email : slasi@infotel.ccom.lk

• Software Exporters Association (SEA)

In December 1999, the Software Exporters Association (SEA) was formed under the patronage of Sri Lanka Export Development Board and the BOI with the principal objectives of increasing export earnings, driving growth through cooperative efforts in marketing software and services, and attracting new investments to the IT industry.

Email : info@softwaresrilanka.com

• The Association of Computer Training Organizations (ACTOS)

The Association of Computer Training Organization was formed in January with fourteen founder members under the auspices of the Council for Information Technology of Sri Lanka  (CINTEC).  There are presently sixteen members in the association.

 Education standards, training and facilities offered by member organizations are continuously assessed by the Technical Standards Committee of the Association in order to provide high quality education and training.

Website : www.lk/cintec/actos             

Email : actos@infotel.ccom.lk

MAJOR SINGAPORE INVESTORS IN SRI LANKA

 SHING KWAN GROUP

Property Development

The World Trade Centre in Colombo is owned, developed and managed by Overseas Realty (Ceylon) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Shing Kwan Group of Companies.  It is the single largest Singaporean investment in Sri Lanka.  Located in the heart of Colombo’s business district the 39 storey twin towers cover 750,000 sq.ft of prime office, retail and commercial space.  With a total height of 500 ft, the World Trade Centre is the tallest building in Sri Lanka.  Headed by the well known Singaporean entrepreneur Mr. S P Tao, the Shing Kwan Group has invested US$ 90.0 million for this project.  Mr. Tao’s personal faith in Sri Lanka has resulted the Group in undertaking another mega development known as “Havelock City” project which is the single largest mixed-use real estate development project in Sri Lanka.  The residential component of Havelock City would comprise of eight towers with the first phase of 222 apartments already under construction.

PRIMA LIMITED

Flour Milling

Prima Ltd, pioneer of Singapore’s first flour mill in the early 1960’s also pioneered Sri Lanka’s first Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) project in 1977.  The site of the Sri Lanka mill – which was to become the world’s largest integrated flour milling complex – was Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka’s North-Eastern coast.  Chosen for its excellent natural deep water harbour, it can handle grain carrier ships as large as 150,000 metric tons. The complex has a milling capacity of 3,400 Mt of Wheat per day and is completely self sustained. Besides bunkering service to vessels, it has facilities to vessels for lading and unloading grain/ flour direct from ships docking at the company’s wharf/jetty, a complete distribution network for flour by rail, road and ship from the complex and residences a club house, clinic and other amenities for its employees.  The company, which has 2 local subsidiaries, has an investment of US$ 71 million. 

 Other Leading Singapore Investments in Sri Lanka are as follows:-

(C) Sri Lanka High Commission Singapore

Last updated on December 2008