A Supplementary Agreement was signed on 16 October 2026 between HDDES Extracts (Pvt) Ltd., an exporter of value-added, export-oriented spices, oleoresins, essential oils, and related products, and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), with coordination facilitated by the National Initiative for Research and Development Commercialization (NIRDC) and the BOI.

Through the active intervention of the NIRDC unit established at the Presidential Secretariat, and in collaboration with the BOI, the company was able to resolve the legal and administrative issues that had delayed the project for more than a year. These efforts enabled the successful advancement of the USD 26.3 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Following the resolution of these issues, the Supplementary Agreement was signed to facilitate the expansion of the company's operations through the establishment of a new, high-tech spice-processing industrial facility in Ingiriya, near the Horana Investment Promotion Zone.

The proposed facility will also include a laboratory complex dedicated to research and development (R&D) in spice processing and quality assurance.

The project is expected to generate employment opportunities, strengthen rural incomes by creating opportunities for local spice suppliers, and earn much-needed foreign exchange for the country.

The occasion was attended, on behalf of the BOI, by Mr. K. A. Vimalaenthira Raja, Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development and a member of the BOI Board of Directors, and Mr. Viswanathamoorthy Govindasamy, a member of the BOI Board of Directors. Representing HDDES Extracts (Pvt) Ltd. were its Directors, Mr. Gehan de Silva and Mr. Mevan de Silva. The NIRDC delegation included Mr. E. R. M. Idunil Gunathilaka, Director of Investment at NIRDC, along with other officials.