COLOMBO : State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal came out strongly against comments made by US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Alaina B Teplitz who said that Sri Lanka may be creating a haven for money launderers and other nefarious actors through the Colombo Port City development.
Ambassador Teplitz was quoted on Saturday warning Sri Lanka of unintended consequences of ‘nefarious actors’ who may try to misuse a China-backed Colombo Port City’s easy business rules as a permissive money laundering haven amid concerns of tax leaks.
State Minister Cabral said that this is a very unjust and unfair comment. “Government and several other bodies will and have taken every effort under international laws to scrutinise investors and can assure the public that such activities would not take place.”
He challenged the Ambassador to provide him with even one instance of such a ‘shady’ activity.
Cabraal said that the Ambassador should also note that small countries with less than 650, 000 population have heavily invested in the US.
“Cayman Islands with a population of less than 65,000 and Luxembourg (660,000 population) have invested over US$ 1,839 billion and 1,772 billion respectively in the US. We don’t have such tiny countries investing in Sri Lanka.”
