In his address he assured the Asian Delegates that with the three-decade civil conflict behind now, that the business and investments have grown heaps and bounds, and the environment is most conducive for new investments and collaborations, and expressed the government's desire to create closer cooperation with the Asian neighours.

The Deputy Minister elaborated on the political stability in Sri Lanka, and of the conducive environment for investments, Mahinda Chinthanaya's vision for five hubs; knowledge, commercial, naval and maritime, aviation and energy.  He further emphasised on the investment guarantees and the incentives offered by the government.  He stated that SL, while retaining the identity of the country, it encourages investors to make use of these incentives.

Deputy Minister Perera thanked UN-ESCAP for choosing SL as the venue for this prestigious event and also thanked the Chief Organizer of APBF and Director, Trade and Investment of ESCAP  Ravi Rathnayake for bringing this event to SL.(KH)