COLOMBO, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen foreign investors have expressed interest in Sri Lanka's mineral exploration and related industries, with proposed investments totaling nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars, a senior Board of Investment (BOI) official told journalists on Thursday.
BOI Chairman Arjuna Herath said most of the investments are in minerals exploration and processing, signaling renewed global confidence in Sri Lanka's resource potential.
To support these projects, the Ministry of Industries is formulating a new policy framework on mineral resource management, along with a robust regulatory mechanism to ensure transparency, environmental protection, and long-term sustainability, he said.
Herath said that once implemented, the projects will help accelerate development in the mineral sector, create hundreds of jobs, and strengthen the country's industrial base, aligning with Sri Lanka's broader economic recovery efforts.
Sri Lanka is richly endowed with a huge variety of industrial minerals such as graphite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and quartz, a report by the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development-Sri Lanka said. ■
