Dr A. Saj U.
Mendis, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, met with the top
management of SK Group, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate (Chaebol), to
discuss investment and FDI in Sri Lanka. Dr Mendis has met with the President and
CEO of SK E&S Co Ltd. for the same, including Jeong Joon Yu as well as the
Board of Directors at the head office of the company.
With regards to
sales and market capitalisation, the SK Group is one of the biggest companies
in the world. SK Group's income was $220 billion in 2019, and the market value
was close to $280 billion, making SK Group one of the world's 25 biggest
companies. The business has 95 branches and employs more than 70,000 people
worldwide. Among other things, the SK Group has a stellar global reputation in
companies such as chemical, petroleum, oil, wireless mobile services, financial
services, telecommunications, manufacturing, shipping and semiconductors.
The discussion
with SK E&S' CEO and Board of Directors focused on, among other things, an
LNG project to be set up on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) in Sri Lanka for
a total cost of $600 million in LNG delivery. The technical experts claimed,
during the discussion with Ambassador Dr Mendis, that the proposed project would
be able to supply 930 MW of LNG power plants in Sri Lanka. The proposed
megaproject will create semi-skilled and skilled jobs for nearly 1,000
nationals of Sri Lanka. The proposal mentioned above has been discussed and
deliberated with the appropriate Sri Lankan authorities and is pending final clearance.
SK E&S' CEO
and Board of Directors also told D. Mendis that the SK Group is keen and eager
to invest more in Sri Lanka, particularly in sectors such as IT and ITES,
construction and telecommunications, among others. Ambassador Dr Mendis said a
clear and compelling presentation of a company in the SK Group calibre in Sri
Lanka would emanate a positive perception and message of Sri Lanka's potential
to foreign corporations and investors.
Dr Mendis also
pointed out that Sri Lanka's equity (stock) market, also known as the Colombo
Stock Exchange (CSE), is highly attractive to woo foreign institutional
investments (FII) since the CSE's price earning ratio is 10.8. Any stock market
with a P/E ratio of less than 15 with a vibrant and diversified economy will be
highly desirable and financially sanguine for any large-scale institutional
investor, especially foreign investors and private equity (PE) firms.
SK E&S' top
management paid due attention to Sri Lanka's economic and investment views and
added that they would look positively and favourably at Sri Lanka. On a
separate note, Dr Mendis reported that KB Financial Group of Kookmin Bank, the
Republic of Korea's largest commercial bank, recently committed a mega-investment
in the highly reputed and diversified LOLC Group, the Sri Lankan "Blue
Chip" corporate.
OSL Take: The
higher education sector in Sri Lanka is fast becoming a hotbed for foreign
investments, given the potential for the development in the industry. Sri
Lankan authorities are paying particular attention to the development of
technical and vocational education in the country. There have also been many
foreign universities that have opened up affiliate colleges in Sri Lanka
targeting local as well as the regional student population. Foreign businesses/investors
could, therefore, explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka's
higher education sector.
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