What BOI Registration Means for Tech and Game Teams: Assess the Project Route Before Planning Your Setup

For tech and game teams, “BOI registration” should not be treated as a pass that automatically applies to every project. It is a potential market-entry route that requires an assessment of the project’s conditions, investment arrangements and operational commitments.

Whether the BOI route is suitable depends on your actual business activities and project plan—not on whether your company name includes terms such as “technology” or “gaming”. The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) lists Information Technology as a priority sector and provides investment guidance, online submission and online visa application access for new investors. However, the inclusion of a sector on the BOI website does not mean that every IT, BPO, game development or digital content project automatically qualifies for incentives, approval or a particular outcome. Before committing to incorporation, hiring and office costs, teams should consider BOI assessment as part of the overall project design.

The practical impact: the project needs to be clearly articulated

A common issue for technology and game teams is to complete their corporate setup based on a standard incorporation approach, only to find later that their investment route, business description, hiring plan or cross-border operating arrangements need to be explained differently. Where a BOI route may be considered, the first step is not collecting every available form. It is preparing a project description that the relevant authorities and professional advisers can understand.

At a minimum, that description should address:

• What the core Sri Lanka activity will be: software development, testing, shared services, customer support, game development, art production, publishing support, or a combination of activities;
• What the local team will deliver, and whether it will serve group companies, overseas clients or local customers;
• The proposed entity type and the relationship among shareholders, management and related parties;
• Whether the project involves data processing, online payments, user operations, content publication, advertising or third-party platform partnerships;
• The initial roles, hiring sequence and local management arrangements;
• Whether there is a basic plan for office premises, equipment, connectivity and business continuity; and
• How capital investment, cost allocation and the revenue model align with actual operations.

For game teams in particular, the development function should be described separately from consumer-facing operations. Development, testing, art, animation, customer support, community operations, publishing support and payment-related activities may raise different areas of attention. Do not use a broad label such as “IT services” to summarise all activities. Equally, do not narrow or alter the real business description simply to fit an expected route.

A BOI route does not replace incorporation or sector-specific compliance assessment

Even where a project is considering BOI investment promotion or project coordination support, the team may still need to address company incorporation, ongoing filings, employment arrangements, office leasing, banking services, expatriate arrangements and potentially applicable sector requirements separately. These matters may need to be coordinated, but they are not the same process.

The project can be separated into four layers:

Layer	Key question	Common materials for tech and game teams
Project positioning	Why is this activity being carried out in Sri Lanka?	Business description, group structure, service flowchart
Investment and operations	How will people, funds, premises and equipment be arranged?	Budget rationale, role plan, office plan
Entity and contracts	Which entity will contract, receive payments, employ personnel and assume responsibility?	Shareholder documents, related-party transaction description, contract framework
Ongoing compliance	How will information remain consistent after launch?	Personnel change records, operational evidence, filing coordination process

This means BOI-related preparation should not be handled by business development or administration alone. Product leaders, finance, HR, legal and the local project lead should all participate in the review. If the external business description, internal budget, recruitment plan and customer contract logic conflict with one another, subsequent communication is likely to become more difficult.

Five questions technology teams should confirm first

1. Will the local entity operate as a cost centre or a revenue centre?

If the Sri Lanka team will mainly provide development or support services to overseas related parties, it should explain its service scope, delivery method and cost-settlement logic. If the team will serve the local market or local customers directly, its sales, contracts, payments and operating model should be mapped separately. These two models cannot be adequately described by simply saying that the company “provides technology services”.

2. Does the game project include player-facing operational activities?

A game development studio and an entity responsible for publishing, top-ups, advertising, user data or community management may conduct materially different activities. Teams should list their launch-stage plans and later-stage plans separately, rather than mixing possible future activities into the current project application.

3. Does the staffing plan support the project narrative?

Where a project description emphasises research and development capability, the role structure should show a reasonable relationship among engineering, testing, product, art and operational support functions. Initial hires do not need to cover every function at once, but the team should clearly identify which capabilities will be built locally and which will remain with overseas teams.

4. Do expatriate personnel genuinely have key launch responsibilities?

Arrangements for expatriate managers, technical leads or trainers should be consistent with their role responsibilities, planned period of stay and local team development plan. Visa and work-related matters need to be coordinated through the applicable processes separately. A project should not assume that these matters will be resolved automatically merely because it is considering a BOI route.

5. Can project information be kept up to date?

An investment project is not a one-off presentation deck. When product direction, team size, office address, funding arrangements or customer structure changes, the company should promptly assess whether its external communication materials need to be updated and confirm any further requirements with its appointed licensed professional advisers.

A recommended preparation sequence

For most technology and game teams planning to enter Sri Lanka, a more prudent sequence is to first define the business activities and the role of the local entity; then assess whether a licence map is needed; next progress the project materials, entity setup plan, office plan and recruitment plan in parallel; and only then engage with relevant authorities and licensed professional advisers once project conditions are clearer.

The published guide, “How to Build a Licence Map for a Sri Lanka Project: From Business Activities to Launch Conditions”, can help teams separate their business activities before they begin, rather than treating BOI, company registration and sector licences as one process. For office premises, connectivity and contingency arrangements, teams may also refer to “Colombo Office Location and Infrastructure Guide: Business Parks, Connectivity, Power and Business Continuity”.

MMD Business Support can assist businesses in structuring project requirements, coordinating document checklists, matching local resources and coordinating communications with legally qualified registration, legal, tax, audit, immigration and sector specialists. Whether a specific project is suitable for a BOI route, which formal documents are required and what ongoing obligations may apply should be confirmed based on the latest guidance from the relevant authorities and appointed licensed professional advisers.

Official information sources

• Board of Investment of Sri Lanka: https://www.boi.lk/
• BOI investment information and online services portal: https://investsrilanka.com/

The official website information above was reviewed on 30 July 2026.

This content is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or immigration advice. Specific requirements should be confirmed against the latest guidance from the relevant Sri Lankan authorities and appointed licensed professional advisers.