Dialog First to Top USD 1 Billion FDI – Commits USD 150 Million More

Sri Lanka’s flagship telecommunications provider, Dialog Axiata PLC, entered in to an agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) to invest a further USD 150 Million towards the advancement and expansion of ICT infrastructure in Sri Lanka.

The Honourable Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa, witnessed the execution of the investment agreement by Chairman and Director General of the BOI, Jayampathi Bandaranayake, and Chairman of the Dialog Axiata Group, Datuk Azzat Kamaludin.

In concert with the signing of the investment agreement, the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka announced the recognition of Dialog Axiata as the first company under its aegis to reach the Foreign Direct Investment milestone of 1 Billion US Dollars. Dialog Axiata surpassed the 1 Billion USD cumulative investment milestone as at 31st December 2010, and at the completion of the incremental network expansion programme would reach a total investment of approximately 1.2 Billion USD since inception.

To mark the occasion of crossing the 1 Billion USD investment milestone, the Chairman of Dialog Axiata PLC was felicitated by the Hon Minister of Economic Development with a memento signifying the Government’s appreciation for the contribution of the Dialog Axiata, and the Axiata Group Bhd., Malaysia towards the development of Sri Lanka’s ICT sector.

Axiata Group Berhad (then Telekom Malaysia) made its first investment in Sri Lanka in 1994. Supported by the progressive enabling environment facilitated by the BOI and the Government of Sri Lanka, its subsidiary Dialog went on to accomplish many firsts in the region – including the launch of the first digital cellular network in the region in 1995 and the first 3G network in 2006.

“On this occasion, we wish to extend our gratitude to the Government of Sri Lanka, the Board of Investment and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka for the progressive investment, regulatory and development policies they have espoused on a consistent basis. The enabling environment they have and continue to provide investors, has underpinned our faith in, and commitment to, Sri Lanka. Axiata Group is proud to serve the people of Sri Lanka and we will continue to contribute our utmost towards ensuring Sri Lanka’s ICT sector matches world class standards,” said Datuk Azzat Kamaludin, Chairman of Dialog Axiata Group.

Dialog Axiata leads Sri Lanka’s burgeoning mobile market with a 7 Million strong customer base and an infrastructure footprint which comprehensively covers all 9 provinces of the country. Dialog’s mobile network delivers a cutting edge portfolio of GSM/EDGE and 3.5G HSPA, based services. The Dialog Group also operates the country’s largest Direct-to-Home digital pay television service and is aggressively engaged in expanding its share of the country’s fixed telecommunications services market leveraging its WiMAX 16D, CDMA 450 and Optical Fibre Network (OFN) infrastructure. Since its listing in 2005, Dialog continues to be one of the largest capitalised companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

In addition to being a catalyst of ICT growth in Sri Lanka, Dialog has been consistent in its commitment towards the empowerment of Sri Lankan citizens and communities. Signifying its consistent contribution to socio-economic development, Dialog has topped the country’s Corporate Accountability index over the past two years. Principal among Dialog’s social investments are Nenasa, Sri Lanka’s Digital Distance Learning bridge set up in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education, slated to connect 1,000 schools via digital broadcast technology, and the development of human capital via the Dialog Scholar programme which has to date supported close to 500 high performing students from across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka.