The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) has initiated plans to almost double the collective land extent of Sri Lanka’s Export Processing Zones, also known as Free Trade Zones. Currently, there are 14 Export Processing Zones around Sri Lanka which occupy a total land area of around 3,000 acres. “We have 14 FTZs, but the space available is about 3,000 acres and the space usable is only about 2,600 to 2,800, or even less. Now there is an initiative to almost double that capacity,” BOI Chairman Mangala Yapa said, addressing the opening session of Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2019 which commenced earlier today at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel Colombo. An Export Processing Zone is a designated area of a country where some normal trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratic requirements are lowered to attract new business and foreign investments. Yapa added that this expansion has been necessitated due to the frustration experienced by land starved foreign investors. “When an investor comes he doesn’t have the space to set up immediately. In Sri Lanka we take a long time to get land cleared and by that time the investor is fed up. Therefore, even if the investor is keen on doing something the space is a major concern,” he said. Sri Lanka’s Export Processing Zones are situated in Katunayake, Biyagama, Koggala, Wathupitiwela, Mirigama, Polgahawela, Horana, Mawathagama, Mirijjavilla, Malwatte, Seethawaka, Bingiriya and Hambantota.