President Anura Kumara Dissanayake chaired a high-level meeting at the Presidential Secretariat today (October 28) to finalize plans aimed at attracting major investors to Sri Lanka’s mineral industry.
Emphasizing the government’s core responsibility to properly assess national resources, the President highlighted the urgent need to identify the full potential of the country’s mineral reserves and take immediate steps to draw strong investment into the sector.
The meeting thoroughly reviewed the progress of land identification for mineral projects and the precise locating of existing deposits. Specific focus was directed toward ongoing exploration activities and investor attraction strategies at the Kahatagaha graphite mines and Eppawala phosphate deposits.
To ensure credibility, extensive discussions centered on providing the necessary facilities so that mineral reserve and exploration reports issued by the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau comply with international standards and achieve global recognition. The committee also explored the possibility of outsourcing future mineral exploration activities to expert external bodies.
In the gem and jewelry sector, officials from the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development reported that a robust policy framework is currently being formulated to ensure gem mining operates legally and systematically.
Officials also reviewed measures taken to eliminate fraud in gem exports and assessed construction progress on the upcoming Gem and Jewellery Centre, designed to boost the local industry and attract foreign capital. (Newswire)