US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Eric Meyer has told a Colombo business forum that Sri Lankan companies should look at investing in the United States, including through the forthcoming SelectUSA Investment Summit, EconomyNext reported on Thursday.

Meyer was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Sri Lanka–USA Business Council (SLUSABC), a body of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He pointed to “opportunities to deepen commercial cooperation in technology, energy, infrastructure and logistics.”

The direction of the invitation is the notable part. Sri Lanka’s commercial relationship with the United States is overwhelmingly an export relationship — apparel above all — and official engagement usually concerns market access and tariffs. An invitation to place Sri Lankan capital into the US economy is a different proposition, and SelectUSA is the federal programme built to attract exactly that.

Conditions attached

Meyer paired the invitation with expectations about the domestic environment. The chamber said he “emphasized the importance of transparent, predictable regulations, strong intellectual property rights, and fair competition in building investor confidence and creating lasting economic opportunities for both countries.”

He also “commended the Council’s efforts to foster a stronger business environment and advance intellectual property protections,” underscoring their role in attracting US investment and expanding bilateral trade.

Tilak Gunawardana, Group Director and Chief Financial Officer of MAC Holdings, was re-elected SLUSABC President for the 2026/2027 term. He made a similar point from the business side, stressing the need for consistent policies and a predictable trade framework so that firms can plan, invest and expand.

Both men, in other words, named policy predictability as the constraint — the ambassador as a condition for inbound US investment, the council president as a condition for his members’ own planning.

Not reported

EconomyNext gives no date or venue for the SelectUSA summit Meyer referred to, no figure for current two-way investment or trade, and no indication of whether any Sri Lankan company has committed to attend. The remarks are reported from a chamber statement rather than from the floor, so there is no indication of what was asked or answered.

No other verified newsroom had filed on the AGM when this article was written.