Sri Lanka’s Legislative Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has ordered the State-Owned Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) to submit a report expeditious on its decision to close operations in Maldives and Seychelles branches.
Last week, COPE directed the SLIC Chairman to submit an expeditious report on the reasons for its closure of the Maldives and Seychelles branches with an explanation for the financial losses and expenses incurred by the SLIC for opening and closing of those branches.
The COPE meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath last week. It discussed Rs 36 million loss incurred to the closure of branches in the Maldives and Seychelles by the SLC.
In 2015, the newly appointed SLIC management decided to close down operations in Maldives and Seychelles citing those expansions as ‘ uneconomical ventures the investments made in opening those branches failed to yield adequate returns.
The SLIC struggled to compete with established players in insurers in Seychelles. It faced a similar fate in the Maldives while another Sri Lankan insurance firm, Ceylinco Insurance which later ventured into the market succeded.
In Seychelles, Lanka Hospital and Nawaloka Hospitals similarly ceased operations. However, the State-Owned Bank Of Ceylon (BoC) has retained its operations in the country. In addition, Sri Lanka’s Durdans Hospital ventured into Seychelles recently to capitalize on medical tourism opportunities in the country.