Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi investment in tourism, energy

Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi investment in tourism, energy

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is working on attracting more investment from Saudi Arabia, the island nation’s envoy in Jeddah told Arab News, as Saudi support is seen as important to help put the Sri Lankan economy back on track.

The country has been gripped by a deep financial crisis caused by economic mismanagement and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which left the island nation severely short of dollars for essential imports and its people struggling with soaring costs of living.

The International Monetary Fund approved in March a nearly $3 billion bailout loan for Colombo, but as it will take time for the country to recover, Sri Lankan missions abroad have been working to attract more foreign investors to help put the battered economy back on track.

Investment from Saudi Arabia has been identified as a key part of ongoing recovery efforts in Sri Lanka, said Falah Alhabshi Mowlana, Sri Lanka’s consul general in Jeddah.

“Saudi investment is very important to Sri Lanka,” Mowlana told Arab News in an interview in Colombo over the weekend.

“This is the country that helped Egypt, Pakistan, etc during their economic depression. In this current situation, if Sri Lanka can attract Saudi investments it would play a huge role