Speaking at the signing ceremony, Champika Ranawaka, minister of megapolis and western development, said that the Colombo International Financial City will be “one of the key phenomenon which will decide the future development of Sri Lanka”.
Tang Qiad Liang, chairman of the CHEC, agreed, and said that the positive changes made to the agreement of the Colombo Port City was a reflection of CHEC’s willingness to work closely with the Sri Lankan government to ensure that the project has mutual long term benefits to both the investor and the country.
Under the new tripartite agreement, the project, which has now been expanded to 269 hectares, will include central parks and beaches for the public. The project is also expected to create thousands of jobs in the island country.
Anushka Wijesinha, chief economist at Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, told Asia Times that the re-branding made sense, was a good strategic mood and will help with the global marketing of the project to attract foreign investors.
“The government was facing legacy issues of the ‘Port City’ – it vehemently opposed while in the opposition during President Rajapaksa’s regime and vowed to cancel the project. They made this a key campaign pledge.
“However, after coming in to power, reality set in and the new government realised it has to proceed with it. So the repackaging is useful to give it a fresh face in the eyes of the public,” he said.
Mr Wijesinha added that even though the project was called ‘Port City’, it was never going to have exclusively port-related activities. “In fact, it was being positioned as a new commercial center, just close to the Port in Colombo. So in a way, this new positioning makes sense.”
He noted, however, that what matters now is to bring in the correct regulatory framework and investment climate to make the project truly successful.
