Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP and economist Dr. Harsha de Silva stated that certain precautions have to be taken in order to prevent certain unintended consequences of the Port City Economic Commission Bill that was presented to Parliament last Thursday (7).
Speaking to The Morning Business, Dr. de Silva said: “We have to take precautions to ensure that we will provide the right type of environment, particularly with the regulatory framework in order to attract good, credible investors.”
He continued to highlight the importance of building a credible and independent regulatory framework in order to safeguard Port City from a negative impact, adding that the country needs to have a “very independent, credible, regulatory framework” so that Sri Lanka can promote that type of investors.
Moreover, the aforementioned concerns were projected at a virtual conference by US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz.
According to local media reports, Teplitz warned Sri Lanka to be vigilant in safeguarding Colombo Port City through the legal framework which is currently under the process of being tabled in Parliament.
In addition, the gazetted draft of the Port City Economic Commission Bill mentioned in Section 35 reads an exemption of income tax from resident employees and non-resident employees (notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other written law) in Port City.
Moreover, it is generally believed that the aforementioned tax concessions are also a measure taken to attract investors. Thus, the aforementioned concerns raised by Teplitz involved “nefarious actors” that may take part in illicit activities such as money laundering in the absence of a legal framework to safeguard Port City from such influence.
However, Teplitz empathised with the Government’s wishes to utilise investments that have already been made whilst highlighting the legislation, which, in her view, needs to reflect the aforementioned challenges.
On a separate note, Teplitz referred to Sri Lanka as a “tax haven”, a common term used to describe the similarities between the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Liberia, the Netherlands, and Switzerland where a place or country offers foreign individuals and businesses low or no tax liability in a politically and economically static environment.
It should also be noted that Texas in the US is also known as a tax haven in which businessmen and entertainment influencers such as Kanye West, with a net worth of $ 1.8 billion, was said to have a growing interest in the state, while Elon Musk, with a net worth of $ 165.7 billion, recently moved out from Silicon Valley to Texas.
Port City economic commission bill: Precautions needed to avoid ‘unintended’ consequences
12 Apr 2021
Port City economic commission bill: Precautions needed to avoid ‘unintended’ consequences
12 Apr 2021
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