UAE investors eye Sri Lanka ports, logistics, food security and technology opportunities

Dubai: Sri Lanka is pitching its ports, free zones and logistics sector to UAE investors, with Port City Colombo and Trincomalee among the projects seeking capital while the two countries look to expand a trade relationship that reached $1.1 billion last year.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, said logistics and free zones were among the most promising investment pathways available to UAE businesses looking at Sri Lanka.

“The most promising of these pathways are in logistics and free zones,” Al Zeyoudi said during the second edition of Sri Lanka Beyond Your Dreams 2026 in Dubai.

Port City Colombo has already been presented to the UAE business community through a forum held in Dubai in June, with opportunities spanning port-related projects and its accompanying special economic zone.

Al Zeyoudi said the development is becoming a regional hub for finance, technology and manufacturing, while Trincomalee Port, located in one of the world’s deepest natural harbours, is seeking investment to expand its capacity.

Sri Lanka’s wider investment proposition extends beyond infrastructure, with opportunities also being promoted in technology, tourism, manufacturing and reconstruction.

“Sri Lanka offers considerable opportunities for our investment community, which continues to seek long-term, high-impact projects in growing economies,” Al Zeyoudi said. “From the immediate needs of reconstruction to the incredible potential of its logistics, technology and tourism sectors, Sri Lanka is one of the most appealing destinations for UAE capital.”

Bilateral non-oil trade between the UAE and Sri Lanka reached $1.1 billion in 2025, representing growth of 5.2% from 2024, according to Al Zeyoudi.

The UAE ranks among Sri Lanka’s top four trading partners and accounts for 5.2% of the country’s total foreign trade.

Al Zeyoudi acknowledged that conditions in 2026 have been challenging, but said there remained “considerable scope for rebooting our cross-border exchange”.

The UAE is already a market for Sri Lankan garments and agricultural products, while its logistics network provides Sri Lankan exporters with access to markets beyond the country.

Sri Lanka is also seeking UAE investment in agriculture, with one model involving UAE companies producing food in Sri Lanka and exporting it back to the Emirates.

Alexi Gunasekera, Consul General of Sri Lanka to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, told Gulf News that discussions had already taken place with potential investors around UAE food security.

“This morning we had a meeting with some potential investors for UAE food security. They are willing to grow and cultivate in Sri Lanka, agricultural production, and export back to the UAE,” Gunasekera said.

“The UAE companies can invest in Sri Lanka with the lands, and then export back to the UAE. That is another opportunity.”

The proposal sits alongside Sri Lanka’s push to diversify trade beyond a relatively narrow group of products, including apparel and tea.

“We want to diversify our exports,” Gunasekera said.

Information technology and pharmaceuticals are among the other sectors that Sri Lanka is presenting to UAE investors.

Gunasekera said technology companies could establish operations in Sri Lanka while maintaining a presence in the UAE, giving them access to both markets and allowing Sri Lankan businesses to participate more deeply in international value chains.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is another area being targeted, particularly because Sri Lanka currently relies heavily on overseas supplies.

“Pharmaceuticals, we are looking at investment to Sri Lanka. We do import 85% of our pharmaceuticals from other countries, so those are the other things,” Gunasekera said.

He also pointed to opportunities in technology transfer and manufacturing, including participation in global automotive and pharmaceutical value chains.

Both officials highlighted measures intended to improve the framework for foreign investment.

Al Zeyoudi cited Sri Lanka’s 2024 Investment Promotion Act and the bilateral investment treaty signed in February 2025, saying the measures had created a legal framework to expand investment pathways and protect foreign investment.

Gunasekera said questions from UAE investors frequently centre on whether profits can be repatriated and whether the economic and political environment provides sufficient certainty for long-term investment.

“The main thing is they ask, if I invest in Sri Lanka, whether I can repatriate my profit back to the UAE without any problem. How is the economic confidence of that country?” he said.

He pointed to the investment protection agreement, government stability and the administration’s stated zero-tolerance approach to corruption among the factors being presented to investors.

Tourism is another area where Sri Lanka sees room for expansion, particularly among Emirati travellers.

Gunasekera said the number of Emirati visitors currently reaches a maximum of around 5,000 and Sri Lanka wants to increase that figure.

The country is also targeting business events and destination weddings, with large wedding parties already providing a high-value tourism segment.

“Recently some weddings were held in Sri Lanka with parties of massive numbers, 500, 600. They spend $1 million to $2 million,” Gunasekera said.

He said promoting Sri Lanka in the UAE also gives the country access to a much wider pool of nationalities living in the Emirates.

Gunasekera expects deeper economic agreements between the two countries to create additional room for bilateral trade.

He said an investment protection and promotion agreement was already in place and discussions around a broader economic partnership were progressing.

“Everything is in place. Trade will increase by two, three folds,” he said.

Sri Lanka also wants to see more official and business delegations travelling between the two markets, alongside deeper government engagement and higher trade flows.

The relationship already has a substantial people-to-people component, with close to 250,000 Sri Lankans working in the UAE, according to Gunasekera.