Tokyo Stock Exchange, which has a market capitalization of 3,300 billion US dollars, is interested in having Sri Lankan firms gaining a listing through Japanese Depository Receipts, Sri Lanka's embassy said in a statement following discussions with TSE officials.

Ambassador Karannagoda was quoted as saying that the listing process at the TSE was easier and less costly when compared to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the NASDAQ.

Sri Lankan firms including John Keells Holdings and Hatton National Bank have previously raised money through the issue of global depository receipts in Luxembourg.

Tokyo Stock Exchange was set up in 1878, a few years before Colombo Brokers Association, the forerunner of the Colombo Stock Exchange and a pioneer stock exchange in Asia, began in 1896, trading plantations stock.

Colombo became a financial centre that raised money for companies in other Asian countries including Malaysia, with the islands currency fixed by a currency board allowing free flow capital. A few Malaysian firms are still listed in Colombo.

However after independence from British rule Sri Lanka established a money printing central bank leading to exchange controls in less than two years.

It was followed by violations of property rights through expropriations soon after, relegating the country to the backwoods of Asia.

Corrected - market cap US$3,300bn