COLOMBO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has been looking at introducing investor-friendly policies to bolster trade and attract fresh foreign investments this year, local media quoting Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama as saying on Monday.

Samarawickrama told the local Daily FT that the government hoped to introduce investor-friendly mechanism to fast-track the approval and implementation of projects and the local Board of Investment (BOI) had already set up the Single Window Investment Facilitation Taskforce (SWIFT) to streamline and fast-track the investment approval process.

"We also hope to talk to the existing investors to encourage reinvestment," the minister said.

Samarawickrama said the government was steaming ahead in developing two new export processing zones in Millaniya, in western Sri Lanka and Bingiriya, in the northwestern part of the island nation.

The official also said around Rs. 2.5 billion, or about 13 million U.S. dollars, will be allocated from the upcoming government budget to build the new zones.

Samarawickrama last week said it is aiming to attract 3 billion U.S. dollars worth of Foreign Direct Investments in 2019 as several mega projects were being discussed with international investors.

He said Sri Lanka had drawn around 2.2 billion U.S. dollars worth of FDIs last year, which was an all-time high.

The Sri Lankan government is aiming to attract 5 billion U.S. dollars worth of FDIs per year by 2020.