IANS
Colombo

A mega China-funded port city project in Colombo will help generate new investments and new buyers of real estate in new businesses in Sri Lanka, the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) has said, citing a report.
In a media release, CHEC noted that the recently released Supplementary Environmental Impact Report (SEIA) for the Colombo Port City (CPC) project said that the main objective of the port city was to create a regional business hub - a distinctly branded city, with high quality public spaces and infrastructure facilities, which would attract local and international developers and investors, Xinhua reported.
“The report states that the Colombo Port City has the capacity to contribute towards service sector oriented growth and development by attracting high profile FDI’s and generating a wide range of direct and indirect benefits to the national economy,” the release said.
The project, which is to be implemented over a 25-year period, does not involve replacing any economic activities in the area of its location or its immediate neighbourhood. Thus, the benefit generated by the entire reclaimed land becomes an additional asset to Sri Lanka as a result of a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the release said.
The $1.4bn port city project funded by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) was suspended in March this year after concerns were raised over some aspects of the project.
However after a recently concluded SEIA report conducted by an independent committee, the project was given the go ahead by the Sri Lankan government and is now expected to resume in February.
According to the CHEC, the positive impacts of the project include employment creation, enhanced foreign investment, positive revenue generation to the government, transfer of technology and value added contribution to the national economy.
The SEIA report further states that the proposed port city has the capacity to significantly contribute to the economic wellbeing of the Colombo city and the Colombo Metropolitan Region (CMR).