The Australian billionaire James Packer has been told he is unwelcome in Sri Lanka by its prime minister, after he decided to pull out of a multi-million pounds luxury resort due to the new government's ban on new casinos.
Mr Packer's plans to build a casino in the resort were approved by previous president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who granted generous tax concessions for the $350mn-worth 400-bedroom hotel.
The new government, under President Maithripala Sirisena, banned the building of new casinos and withdrew the tax concessions, causing Mr Packer's Crown Group to withdraw from the project.
"Packer says he will not come. Who asked you to come? Please don't come - not in this lifetime," prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement released by his office.
"We need only good investors ... we don't want an economy relying on casinos," he said according to a transcript of a speech released on Sunday, a day after it was delivered.