Sri Lanka new port factory construction to start in March
(LBO) -
Investors who bid to set up industries in a new port in southern Sri Lanka are to start building their factories in March, Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Priyath Wickrama said.
He said 23 proposals of 27 received for the deep-water Hambantota port on the south coast had qualified. "Three parties have said they plan to start building their factories during March," Wickrama told a seminar organised by the Import Section of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on opportunities in port development.
He said that although the port was not yet equipped with cranes it can handle ships with their own cranes bringing in project cargo for construction work.
The first phase of the port project built with Chinese loans and by a Chinese consortium was completed last November.
The port is meant to be an industrial and bunkering port in the first phase.
"We had to wait until we competed the project to attract investors to the port and then only generate cargo at Hambantota," Wickrama said,
"After that ships will come."
He said that although the port was not yet equipped with cranes it can handle ships with their own cranes bringing in project cargo for construction work.
The first phase of the port project built with Chinese loans and by a Chinese consortium was completed last November.
The port is meant to be an industrial and bunkering port in the first phase.
"We had to wait until we competed the project to attract investors to the port and then only generate cargo at Hambantota," Wickrama said,
"After that ships will come."
Wickrama said a range of industries and activities will be set up at the industrial zone of the new port including cargo consolidation, cement grinding and bagging, automobile assembly, LPG distribution, warehousing and ship services.
