Anjalika Silva USA

A new category of foreign investor…. What Sri Lanka can do….

The recent Covid19 Pandemic has devastated economies, lives and lifestyles worldwide. However, for Sri Lanka, it comes at a time when recovery from endless misfortunes affecting the financial strength of the country was barely turning around.  This has struck another blow that we can all come together to help repair.  There is a way if we explore an under-utilized resource for financial investment and for public relations that is sorely lacking.

It is important for the decision-makers in the country to seriously consider some possibilities for and meet the needs of the ex-pats if they are to harness their financial support. This requires using creative ways to meet the expectations of the ex-pats as customers, end-users, and investors, success is guaranteed.  However, making systems and processes the way bureaucrats in Sri Lanka decided without input from the user end, there is, was and will be frustration as we have been approached in this regard before with hopeless results. 

Savings accounts for expats that have the potential to create a different category of foreign investment.  If laws need to be changed, if policies must be amended, parliament approval is needed, then, do it” is the need of the hour if the country is to benefit.  This must be kept apolitical and should not be a thorn for political ambitions of opposition parties to become insecure and obstruct. 

This should be well thought out for the sake of the country that belongs to all people first, regardless of their political loyalties.  It should also be blended with checks and balances so that shady financial manipulations and abuse with ill-gotten funds for money laundering are avoided.  This should be a category strictly with family financial investment in the country from expats living and using legitimately earned assets with proof of paying taxes as overseas residents.

To get to the point direct, this is a time when the expatriate communities distributed worldwide with financial prowess to respond to a cleverly designed win-win plan between Sri Lanka and the expatriate community. The key to this is that it should be done right. 

At different times, we had ideas bandied around. Attempts to entice investment in Sri Lanka were brought before expats, but the design of the schemes and procedures had absolutely no input from those who were going to be users. It had complicated operations that lost interest.  None of their needs or questions were considered.  None of the programs proposed retained sustained interest of expats.  There was frustration due to lack of thought put into convenience, efficiency and above all, making investment attractive to expats.

It is strongly advised that the recent call for expat remittances of savings to Sri Lanka must be put in place in consultation with the end-user and with input from the end-user who can determine the smooth operation they need to see and use with no bottlenecks.  Feedback from systems used and failed must be considered for future improvement.

It must be considered that earnings from foreign countries come with hard work and sustained efforts in demanding jobs.  No one in their right mind should be expected to part with their financial security for Sri Lanka’s economy without appropriate assurances of being able to access their funds when needed because there is no safety net for expats except their own prudent financial planning. The current NRFC makes that very difficult.

These are the considerations that must be discussed with participants.

1. Eligibility to invest in Sri Lanka in Savings Accounts
   1. Who will be eligible to invest?  This must be cleared first because banks ask for National ID Cards (NIC) to open any account including NRFC.   This eliminates many people who are four generations of Sri Lankans passed through since the NIC was introduced. 
   1. They may have investment potential but they don’t carry a Sri Lankan Passport and NIC.  This card system was introduced in the 1970s and since then we are now into 3 plus generations of individuals of Sri Lankan Heritage who may not be born there so they are disqualified to meet the requirements asked for by banks.  Are they all to be considered? If not, and Sri Lanka wishes to strictly permit only those who were born there, something to be considered is that about 3 generations following first-generation immigrants will be eliminated.
   1. Will Sri Lankans with foreign passports with at least one parent or grandparent born in Sri Lanka be included? Will Sri Lankans born there but are foreign citizens with no immediate desire for dual citizenship be included?   This can net in many high earning professionals educated overseas who are shut out not.  The present system that requires NIC and Sri Lankan dual citizenship is an unnecessary deterrent that excludes rather than includes people of Sri Lankan Heritage. It is also a sure way to eliminate entire lines of immigrant families living overseas for generations to come.
   1. The definition of eligibility must be clearly stated now as with each generation the ties to Sri Lanka seem to be disappearing. Each category should be thought through and clearly defined.
   1. Will this be open to Foreign Citizens who want to invest in Sri Lanka too?   If the interest rates are attractive, there will be interest for individual foreigners with small amounts to invest with a return that is better than rates offered in most developed countries. 
   1. This can be a category of foreign investment that is different from setting up manufacturing or partnerships for manufacturing, sales agencies and the rest.  It will be an individual investor, foreign-born both foreign nationality and those of Sri Lankan Heritage, earning foreign currency with acquired foreign citizenship.
   1. If this is permitted, the Sri Lankan line of heritage, dual citizenship, NIC requirement is null and void.
   1.  Following up on the above, it must be noted that in this article, written particularly with the ex-pats in the USA in mind, the rate of return for savings or money market accounts is less than 1%.  The best-known return on savings accounts is American Express Savings that provide a higher yield of 1.6% which is considered a lot better than banks. This is where the Sri Lankan banks can offer rates that attract investors.
   1. In addition to the above rates, there are some stipulations that require investors to meet conditions at the time of investment.  Some require a minimum amount and stipulations that it cannot be withdrawn for a time period or a limited number of withdrawals of the return on the investment. There are minimum amounts required.  If Sri Lanka has the flexibility to open savings accounts with a reasonable initial deposit, at a reasonably attractive rate of return, with the flexibility to add to the funds with an electronic transfer from time to time, then, the small investor may be more beneficial with a large volume of small investors influencing a favorable outcome. This will be less cumbersome than direct foreign investment projects that require more complicated processes.
   1. All earnings in the USA including contributory pensions of retirees in the form of social security and income from savings made for retirement are taxable. Sri Lankan investments must be declared to the US Internal Revenue but there is no double taxation.  Provision must be made by Sri Lanka for interest earned on expat investments to be available to the account holder to some extent that can be determined by authorities in Sri Lanka. These are to be treated as emergency funds if it attracts small and large investors.

• How the existing remittances to Sri Lanka can be structured for the benefit of the country.
  • Expatriate families continue to remit funds to families, charities and other needs.  This goes on generation after generation and those who have been further from their roots and do not have remittance commitments can be turned around to be interested in investing in Sri Lanka if the rates of return are attractive, and flexibility on how they use the returns can be made easy and accessible.
  • Previous programs and the failure of their benefit to expats resulted in the loss of interest in participation.  The Central Bank had a panel of experts visiting expats in the US with a plan to encourage investment.  Some of us who took advantage of the opportunity was completely disappointed in the procedures and the lack of organization and the difficulty in accessing records on investments.
  • NRFC is another scheme currently available and there is nothing attractive and convenient in this operation that frustrates expats from investing.  There is an attractive interest rate paid on foreign deposits and in my personal experience with US$ it looked attractive.  However, when needed the funds that are saved for an emergency were not easily available.  The cumbersome procedure made it difficult to have access to one’s own funds. It must be remembered that most immigrants maintain their savings as an emergency fund and will need assurances that they can have access to in the event of need. Without such an assurance, coupled with a convenient procedure for fast transfer, there will be minimal interest in participation.
  •  Even in withdrawing funds, in the current set up one must write a signed letter for a request for using funds and email a scanned copy to the bank, follow up with a phone call to authenticate instructions as per the signed scanned electronic communication. This is inconvenient because the international time difference takes too much out of the customer/account holder to have to stay awake late into the night to match working hours for phone calls. A system to seamlessly authenticate the security aspects to connect to the banking of the individual investor with the Sri Lanka investment is the approach that the user end will expect.
  • The banks that have provided for online banking including NRFC accounts have the authority to lock passwords if it is not used for a long period. This should have been assumed initially as expats living outside Sri Lanka will not be accessing their NRFC accounts as frequently as their regular online accounts in their country of residence. 
  • When the password expires, it is necessary to download a form and request a reset of the password.  All this takes copious amounts of time in days and the delays.  Foreign residents also encounter time differences and telephone contact with banks in Sri Lanka does not have technical support after banking hours.  This adds many layers of frustration to the user.  The result is that the desired benefit for the country and the user become a useless exercise full of frustration and fear that one’s savings are inaccessible. Savings will serve no purpose for emergencies if the procedures are cumbersome and need several days.
  • Efficiency, easy access, online access with security that provides access to the end user and additional nontechnology customer support must be provided side by side in the absence of face to face interaction for those who are not tech-savvy.
• Systems that appeal to investors and independent operation of their accounts.
  • Applying the systems found in the USA should be studied as a benchmark for advanced technology applications that can provide security, convenience, and independence to users. An important aspect is to be linked to banks in Sri Lanka.  It is frustrating for an expat to use technology to have to go through layers of bureaucracy to change or reinstate a password.  This is a service that should be available to the minority who may need help. With appropriate verification, the provision to independently make changes should be provided to the account holder.
  • In the event expat investment is provided, there should be a 24/7 technical and other customer support at the end of a phone line due to the global time zones.  In service calls made for companies like Dell Computers, certain banks, and even American Express credit cards and savings account to mention a few among others in the USA, the call centers are overseas but regardless of the time difference, they are staffed by support staff from anywhere at any time.
  • Banks can have a central call center that services all the banks or have individual call center support with technology that can be operated using the work at home customer service” which is a trend.
  • Ongoing transfers will be encouraged if the end-user has the independence to operate funds in either direction.
• Concessions that should be granted to investors and encourage retirees with foreign currency pensions
  • If Sri Lanka benefits from foreign currency deposits from overseas, a reciprocal advantage must be provided to the expats for their commitment to the country.
  • In the era of baby boomers retiring in large numbers and a shift in the demographics, attracting foreign currency earning pensioners/retirees to return to Sri Lanka will be a bonanza.  Such returnees should be provided a special category of dual citizenship to overcome the 6 month limit on their stay on foreign passports.  Unless there is an incentive, it will not be attractive to retirees.
  • Another perk that will be appreciated will be a fast track dual citizenship privilege that could be a fee waiver for working expats for making deposits over the fees charged. This can be by choice if it is not a requirement for investing.  If it is a requirement for investments, the expats will not always want to jump hoops for dual citizenship for not so convenient access to their funds.
  • Recognition with a document of appreciation from the President will go a long way as expats are hardly ever appreciated for the work they do on behalf of the country.  Politically prominent folks fail to even show interest to know what expats do for the country.  In the case of the public relations arm on behalf of Sri Lanka, there is little in the form of formal representation and it is undertaken by expats who are not even considered for a simple thank you” by the powerful who visit.  It is a joke among expats that those who take on voluntary roles do not even receive a handshake.
  • Provision to open separate savings accounts for minor children as a part of their future education fund earning higher interest than that offered in the USA will be another attractive benefit. Such accounts should be locked with timelines because of the convenience for future foreign studies of children from Sri Lanka.
  • The USA has a program called the 529 savings program for the education of a minor.  Parents are given tax breaks for what they put aside for children’s education but are not entitled to use it for any other purpose. Such funds can be invested in the stock market but due to volatility, competing with Sri Lankan offers that are more stable savings will be preferred as an alternative. Expats who save for their children’s higher education will be a segment that can be a part of such a program that can also benefit the Sri Lankan economy

If the Government of Sri Lanka works with a few expatriates taking note of their needs and formulates s a project to encourage some of the ideas expressed, a face to face meeting with people of authority who can get feedback for improvement and decide first hand, the outcome will certainly benefit Sri Lanka. The involvement of expat feedback to improve can be an insightful use of the underutilized expatriate communities both for financial and intellectual support to benefit the country that has given a foundation to many.

Anjalika Silva

USA

Note about the author:  A resident of the USA for 35 years with experience in scientific, nonprofit and corporate environments. Insight comes from driving professional programs and infrastructure development for start-up biotech companies in the areas of Human Resources and Benefits programs for employees which included retirement plans for employees, healthcare and employee benefits.  With experience and training that compliments undergraduate studies in Sri Lanka and graduate education in Technology Management in the USA, this article is written with firsthand experience in developing successful systems, policies and operational processes, managing feedback and increasing efficiency in many areas of management in the USA using a background of Bioscience, Technology, Management, writing and editing including technical writing for the web publishing online documents and manuals for use of technology across global lines.  Although unknown in Sri Lanka, these contributions have been acknowledged in US institutions that demand high standards. 

Anyone with connections, please share these ideas with President Gotabaya Rajapakse, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and any other leaders who can drive this underutilized resource in a direction to benefit the country. Permission is granted to do so.  Anjalika Silva – Gaithersburg, MD. USA