Fortune 100 major Honeywell eyes Sri Lanka
David M. Cote, Chairman and CEO of Fortune 100 company, Honeywell Corporation met with Deputy Minister of Highways & Investment Promotion Eran Wickramaratne at the Ministry office at the World Trade Centre.
"We are very pleased that a global high-tech company in the stature of Honeywell is seriously considering us which is a testament to the new found confidence in Sri Lanka," Deputy Minister Wickremaratne said.
Honeywell has noted Sri Lanka's resurgence and was particularly interested in advanced manufacturing and IT sectors, Wickremaratne said.
Honeywell is a diversified US$79 billion company, with expertise in Aerospace, Automation & Control Systems, Computing, Performance Materials & Technologies. It has 132,000 global employees. Cote is one of the highest regarded business leaders the U.S., having won the CEO of the Year from the Chief Executive Magazine in 2013. He was appointed by President Obama as the Co-Chair of the India-U.S. Business Council and is a Board member of the prestigious New York Federal Reserve.
Deputy Minister Wickramaratne said this was the first time that a top level advanced manufacturing and high tech company was looking at investing in Sri Lanka.
"This is a new beginning: an opportunity to stem the brain drain by attracting companies at the highest end of the value chain like aerospace, automation and performance materials. This is a company that overwhelmingly employs scientists, R&D specialists, high-end IT professionals etc and would be a boon to our workforce.
He noted that the company which already employes over 12,500 in India was attracted to Sri Lanka following positive political and economic developments here. "We had a good discussion, covering issues such as the ease of doing business here, taxation and labour laws," Wickramaratne said.
Associated with the discussion were Chairman of the Board of Investment, Upul Jayasuriya and Executive Directors Duminda Ariyasinghe and Renuka Weerakone. Cote was accompanied by a high powered team from key functional areas.
Cote's visit follows the visit to Sri Lanka of Secretary of State John Kerry last week. Among the issues discussed by Kerry was entering into Trans Pacific Partnership talks with Sri Lanka. The US has been using the TPP mechanism to build stronger economic relations with key allies. Under the TPP, Sri Lankan exporters would gain significant duty concessions to the US market, Deputy Minister Wickamaratne said
-
http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=business/fortune-100-major-honeywell-eyes-sri-lanka