Coca-Cola eyes Sri Lanka for production facility: Fin Min

Jan 17, 2017 (LBO) - International beverage company Coca-Cola has expressed their interest in setting up a production hub in Sri Lanka, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.







President of Coca-Cola Asia Pacific John Murphy and Executive Vice President Irial Finan met Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and discussed the opportunity of producing some of the Coca-Cola products in Sri Lanka for export to India.

“They pointed out that Sri Lanka could be developed into a production hub to re-export their products to India," the ministry statement said. "India has the highest demand for Coca-Cola products in the South Asian region.







The two officials pointed out that Sri Lanka could earn a huge sum of foreign exchange while generating job opportunities for the youth.

” However, they have been concerned about the stability of taxation of investments. “Murphy and Finan were concerned about the stability of the rate of taxation on foreign investment.







They were also happy that the Government was maintaining cordial relations with foreign investors in the country,” the statement added.

In 2015, in Sri Lanka, the environmental protection license of Coca Cola was suspended and later reinstated after the company addressed oil seepage into the Kelani river and agreed to pay compensation for the damage.