The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake asked about Sri Lanka’s response to the Maldives International Financial Centre, noting its tax-free status, absence of exchange controls, and constitutional guarantees for investment. He questioned the current status of Sri Lanka’s Port City financial centre plans and sought clarification on how the Government intends to protect Sri Lanka’s competitive position if the Maldives initiative advances.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 It seems a new practice is emerging: that all answers will be in the debate speech.
¶ 02 Then my second supplementary on services: Our financial institutions – banks and insurance companies – greatly support tourism. The Maldives has now set up the Maldives International Financial Centre to compete with Dubai and Singapore. Sri Lanka also attempted this via the Port City. As the Maldives is rapidly advancing to a significant global position, can you brief us on what Sri Lanka can do? They offer fully tax-free status, no questions on any inflows, no exchange control, and constitutional guarantees for investment. Our Port City planned similarly. What is its current status? If the Maldives’ centre advances, it will significantly impact us. How will we secure ourselves?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 8 May 2025 ·No. 1748426168056758 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 May 2025. No. 1748426168056758. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/21762