COLOMBO : The All Union Alliance of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka has expressed its strong displeasure with the points mentioned in the online webinar on the proposed Economic Transformation Act, held by Mr. Mangala Yapa on May 31, 2024, and firmly rejects those statements.
1″.We disdainfully reject the highly inaccurate claim made by Mr. Mangala Yapa at the said Webinar that the Unions of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka have expressed agreement with the contents of this Act. The submission of such false statements by an individual disrespects all parties who contributed to the creation of this Act.
2. The committee that drafted this Act never consulted BOI Unions during its preparation. In response to repeated requests from the Union, a discussion was held on February 9, 2024, between the oversight committee and representatives of the BOI Unions. During this discussion, the Unions did not agree to any points raised by the oversight committee as stated by him and at the end of the meeting, we were informed that our suggestions should be submitted in writing to the Oversight Committee. Accordingly, on February 15, 2024, a letter outlining our proposals and the matters agreed upon during the discussion was sent to Mr. Ajith Gunawardena, the chairman of the monitoring committee. However, this committee could not be responsible enough to include any matter they agreed on in the discussion that day to the proposed Economic Transformation Act.
3. The most disappointing aspect is that after sending the letter, the committee did not grant us any further discussions as we requested, and even ignored our phone calls
4. As informed by the Legal Department of BOI, the discussion with them was only about the transitional provisions of this Act and not about other conceptual issues arising from this Act.
5. Also, this committee continued to avoid getting the opinions of the senior officials of the Board of Investment, and the top management of the Board of Investment was contacted in some cases only at the strong request of the Unions.
6. The false statements made by Mr. Mangala Yapa is merely to cover up the controversial matters contained in this Act. Further, for the information of all, the letter sent by All Unions Alliance of BOI to Mr. Ajith Gunawardena, the Chairman of the Oversight Committee on February 15, 2024 is hereby published.
Additionally, we intend to share our perspectives with the media soon regarding many of the unacceptable claims he has made about this Act.
We absolutely believe that the Board of Investment should be changed in time, and it should not be for personal purposes, but with the aim of attracting foreign investment to the country, in a manner that is favorable to the country, the people and the employees.”
