BOI introduces series of novel techniques to digitally promote FDI to Sri Lanka

BOI has placed emphasis on digitalization and has introduced a series of novel techniques to digitally promote FDI to Sri Lanka.

This will also help to better Sri Lanka’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking as data-driven connectivity-enabled business ecosystems will be the gold standard for doing business. The BOI embarked on its Digital transformation amidst the pandemic and the solution for less human contact aims at a paperless documentation platform where any enterprise registered under the BOI can submit relevant documents electronically without a visit to the BOI office physically.

The sole objective of this system is to provide a speedy service to enterprises where processes and procedures have been simplified and streamlined. The system is open to both local and foreign enterprises who aspire to embark on an investment journey with the BOI. The system comprises six categories. The pinnacle of this digitization brings much-needed transparency to the BOI system and is validated by automated audits with accuracy.

The automated process to reconcile the imports against the exports is done by the enterprises’ duty-free items. Once this system is implemented, it automatically (previously it was conducted manually with larger human resources cost) reconciles whether the imports and exports are up to the agreed and expected level. This is one of the major breakthroughs in BOI digitization history. The BOI is of the view that the new system has the potential to increase the effectiveness of doing business while identifying new investors and providing value through digital service delivery and signaling to the world that BOI is ready to serve digital enable investors with the highest standard in the world.