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Asia’s Tallest Tower to be built in Sri Lanka

Asia’s Tallest Tower to be built in Sri Lanka

The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka, signed a US $ 2 billion agreement with the World Capital Centre (WCC) for the building of the tallest building in the Asia. The tower is expected to eclipse a few more developments which currently seek to attain the title as Sri Lanka’s tallest. Upon completion, it is expected that the tower will be world’s 9th largest structure.
The World Capital Centre also known WCC, is a venture by Al Aman group of companies. The group has a significant presence in countries such as Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates and are, amongst many others, involved in industries ranging from capital markets, engineering, real estate, hospitality, security and apparel. According to the official website of the WCC, AL Aman group is also involved in two other projects in Sri Lanka, Aman 101 – Royal Empire in Colombo North and Aman Royal Island based in Jaffna.
According to sources, it is expected that the tower will have a height of 625 meters and will be built in Colombo. The twin tower structure is equipped with 117 floors which include 1,200 residential units and 2,000 hotel rooms, 5000 car parking units and 3000 retail units. It is also revealed in the plans that there will be a 7 Star Hotel under the name WCC with 20 luxurious swimming pools, First Michelin class restaurant of Sri Lanka and gold presidential suites with gold plated fitting and interior, as well as even a helipad.
The agreement signing ceremony was attended by Chairman of BOI, Mr. Upul Jayasooriya and many of its top-level officials, while representation for WCC was headed up by the Chairman of WCC, Mr. Ahmed Moulana amongst its’ other key delegates. The sources state that the project is expected to be completed in 2022 and is being built largely to take advantage of Sri Lanka’s position as a financial hub and due to multiple bilateral trade agreements and developing of closer ties with emerging players in the region as well as the Western markets.
According to many sources in the media, WCC expects to be the primary investment vehicle for investors to base their operations in Colombo when the administration moves ahead with plans to make Sri Lanka a financial hub for the Asian and South Asian region, placing WCC as a key stakeholder of this movement.
According to Mr. Moulana, “The companies operating within the WCC will include equity capital market, debit capital market, hedge funds, leveraged finance, business management and professional services, micro finance, currency/ trading, institutional investors, insurance companies, banking to name a few.” Furthermore, he has revealed that the “financial activities the WCC Tower will also house 50 separate zones which will include companies trading with gold, real estate, petroleum products, gems and jewelry and leisure (Hotel and Resort) and recreational as well as a 7 Star Hotel and the first Michelin starred restaurant in South Asia”
Source – (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/world-capital-centre-ahmed-moulana)
Despite the ceremonious and general positive outlook, the project has also been put under close scrutiny due to a number of issues that have been highlighted by the media. Key among which is the disparity between the figure of USD 2 billion dollars shown by the BOI and the figures put forth by the Al Aman group which estimates the project around USD 1.2 billion. Added to this is also the issue that despite the investment being cited in billions the agreement for foreign investment that has been entered , facilitates only up to USD 200 million.

OSL TAKE

Despite controversy, this is a project that signals that the present administration is committed to establishing Sri Lanka as a financial hub in the region and large-scale projects such as this will be an attractive proposition for any investors. However, the project has not seen a smooth ride through the media and many of its critics,could be expected to face further backlash, if there were to be delays or setbacks as can be expected with such a large-scale project.
The Sri Lankan economy stands to gain significantly if this venture does become a reality and will play a large part in placing Sri Lanka’s vision of becoming a financial hub firmly rooted in the eyes of investors. The number of jobs that would be created can be expected to be high; given the scale of the project, and would contribute to decrease of the un-employment rates during the short term and long-term basis for both white collar and blue-collar jobs.

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Article Code : VBS/AT/18072017/Z_1

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