Kenanga Research said in a report yesterday Axiata
KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd
through its subsidiary, Dialog Axiata PLC has invested over US$2.2bil (RM9bil) in Sri Lanka, the telecommunications company said.
Dialog is the single largest foreign direct investments (FDI) into Sri Lanka and one of the largest corporations in the country, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Axiata said Dialog had been a long term investor in Sri Lanka for over two decades and “have been making significant investments to spearhead the rapid development of the Sri Lankan telecommunications industry”.
It issued the statement to thank the governments of Sri Lanka and Malaysia for assisting to resolve the issue of Dialog’s broadband network licence renewal, one of Dialog’s five main business licences, for the best interest of Sri Lanka’s telecommunications sector.
It is understood that the renewal application for the company’s service licence in Sri Lanka has been pending for 30 months since May 2015.
“Axiata is truly grateful to our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak, for his personal and active support of our international investments in general, and, for helping to resolve the above issue,” it said.
Najib said in Colombo on Tuesday that a mechanism to resolve the issue has been suggested by Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena over the renewal of Dialog Axiata’s licence.
“He (Sirisena) has suggested that we create a mechanism whereby Sri Lanka will appoint two representatives, while we appoint another two. The representatives will be tasked to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“I see this as a positive development, that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” the Prime Minister said.
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