The BOI has entered into an agreement with the
Indian Infrastructure development giant Mahindra & Mahindra for
a new IT Park at Katunayake. The Agreement was signed by Dr
Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Enterprise Development and
Investment Promotion, whose Ministry oversees the Board of
Investment of Sri Lanka, and Arun Nanda, Vice Chairman of
Mahindra & Mahindra.
Also present at the event and exchanging
documents were Jairam Ramesh, the Indian State Minister of
Commerce, who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka, heading a
large Government and Business delegation, Navin Dissanayake, Sri
Lanka’s Minister of Investment Promotion and senior officials of
the Indian High Commission and the Board of Investment of Sri
lanka.
The IT Park in Katunayake will be located on a
53 acre land that was identified as the site for a future IT
park by the BOI. The land will yield 2.6- 3 million sq. feet of
space that can be used for the different types of IT related
activities.
The site would be built and managed by Mahindra
& Mahindra and the company would market the site, making space
available to interested investors in the IT, BPO and IT enabled
services sectors. The rationale behind this new agreement is to
use the expertise of Mahindra & Mahindra to build the site in
association with the Board of Investment.
Arun Nanda, Vice Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra
said that the main strength of his company was its ability to
bring to the new IT zone top level IT companies from India and
other countries. He added, " The project will create 25,000 new
software jobs in Sri Lanka, which is a tenfold increase of Sri
Lanka’s current pool of IT workers". In addition, there are
another 5,000 other employment opportunities from support
services. But Nanda is confident that the IT Zone in Katunayake
will eventually create a staggering 60,000-70,000 indirect job
opportunities, as the site will become a magnet for a wide range
of activities.
Dr Amunugama addressing the media present said "
we are very happy to have entered into this agreement. We have
had a long relationship with M & M. The IT industry is a US$ 1
billion industry for Sri Lanka. M& M will undertake the total
integrated development of the IT Park. It will be open for
companies to invest". He added "I am very confident that some of
the big players in the IT industry will invest here".
The larger picture shows growing economic
co-operation between India and Sri Lanka, and Mahindra &
Mahindra is involved in an even larger project that will
commence shortly. This is the project to develop a 900 acres
special economic Zone in Trincomalee. Under this future
agreement that will be signed in 30 days time M&M and the
Government of Sri Lanka will provide the basic infrastructure
for the zone, while private entrepreneurs can invest there. This
project will definitely fast track development in the Eastern
Province. If the East can be developed, this could easily add
another 2% to Sri Lanka’s current economic growth rate. Dr
Amunugama said in this connection " it is absolutely essential
that private capital must reach the poor. Political solutions
are for lawyers", underscoring the need for practical answers to
pressing problems.
