China’s CHEC Confirms $ 1.2 billion investment in Colombo Port City
Ada Derana: Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has held a meeting with the President of the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) Bai Yinzhan at their head office in Beijing on 26 June.
President Bai confirmed that CHEC will invest $ 1.2 billion in the Colombo Port City, starting with the International Financial Centre, the Sri Lankan foreign minister said in a tweet.
The CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd through the state-run China harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) is part of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC).
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry also met with the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of China in Beijing on Monday.
The minister tweeted saying he had a constructive meeting with the Chairman of the EXIM Bank of China, Wu Fulin.
“We discussed the way forward with Sri Lanka ‘s ongoing debt restructuring process.”
“I was assured China will support Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and growth,” he said.
Sabry, who is in China to participate in the World Economic Forum being held in Tianjin from 27 to 29 June, had also met with the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on 25 June.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port City project is one of the key development projects of the country that is aimed at taking it to the next level of development. The country’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country have all helped Sri Lanka work towards becoming an emerging business destination in the South Asian region. Given Sri Lanka’s prominence in China’s belt and road initiative (BRI), Chinese businesses/investors have expressed interest in investing in Sri Lanka, especially in the Colombo Port City project. With Sri Lanka ‘s economy on a growth path after facing the global pandemic and an economic crisis, Chinese businesses/investors could explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka. They could also look at forming partnerships or joint ventures with local businesses with the aim of expanding operations.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20230710/Z_3 |