President of the Lanka India Business Association (LIBA), Santosh Menon, has highlighted the likely transformative impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Sri Lanka. Speaking to Akashvani in Colombo, Mr. Menon recalled the steady rise seen by India since the last visit of the Indian leader six years ago. He added that during the period, India has added 1 trillion US dollars to its economy, expanded its middle class to 550 million, and has the world’s longest road network. He added that Sri Lanka stands to benefit from the advances made by India.

Mr. Menon noted that the opportunity for Sri Lanka to gain from India’s growth is immense. He added that out of 36 billion USD that have been invested by Indian businesses as FDI globally, only 2 billion USD was invested in Sri Lanka. He hoped that this visit could provide a golden opportunity to change the status quo bringing in more investments and attracting more tourists to Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to commence his Sri Lanka visit on the 4th of April.