Chinese state-owned firm to build Lanka port complex

COLOMBO: A Chinese state-owned firm said it plans to take its investment in Sri Lanka to $2 billion by building a major logistics hub.

Sri Lanka is looking to kickstart its economic recovery after defaulting on its foreign debt last year, when shortages of essentials such as food, fuel and medicines sparked widespread anti-government protests.

The investment by the China Merchants Group in a large logistics complex at Colombo Port, with an estimated construction cost of $392 million, is the first major foreign investment in Sri Lanka since the default.

The logistics centre project will take CMG’s “accumulated investment in Sri Lanka to… over 2 billion US dollars, making it the largest foreign investment enterprise in the island”, the company said in a statement on Monday.

CMG will have a 70% stake in the company set up to build the logistics complex at Colombo, the only deep-sea port between Dubai and Singapore.

Describing the project as South Asia’s largest logistics hub, CMG said it expects to complete it by the end of 2025.