Singapore food manufacturer Prima Holdings is the largest Singapore-based investor in Sri Lanka.

It is so well known there that many think it is a local company, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech at a lunch he hosted for visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"Singaporeans are not new to the Sri Lankan market. One early pioneer, Prima Holdings, has been in Sri Lanka for almost 40 years," Mr Lee said at the Istana lunch.

"They've been there so long that many Sri Lankans even think that Prima is a Sri Lankan company and are surprised to know that it comes from Singapore. I hope that more Singapore companies will be like Prima, and will build long and lasting economic partnerships in Sri Lanka," he added.

Prima Ceylon is the largest integrated flour milling complex in Sri Lanka.

Prima's buns are a familiar household product.