22 December 2017 09:56 am
The Cabinet of ministers on Wednesday gave the green light for China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) to invest US $ 1 billion to construct the Colombo International Financial Centre (CIFC) at the Colombo Port City.
Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has forwarded the proposal to CHEC to bring in the funds as a foreign direct investment and to sign a memorandum of understanding between its subsidiary CHEC Colombo Port City (Pvt.) Ltd and the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry to
this effect.
The construction will commence in the latter half of 2018 and the US-based Skidmore, Owings & Merril has been chosen as the architect, following an international request for proposals.
The infrastructure required for the project is being planned out and the environmental impact assessment has been opened up to public opinion, a cabinet spokesperson said.
CHEC this October said that the building would be between 40-60 storeys and the US $ 1 billion investment would come in two stages, adding to the US $ 1.5 billion. CHEC has already invested to reclaim the 269 hectares of land near the Colombo Port.
Approximately 50 percent of the land has already been reclaimed, according to the government.The CIFC is expected to make Sri Lanka into a regional financial hub and the government is expecting the financial centre to be governed by English Law, similar to the financial centres in Dubai and Singapore, in order to make legal action taken and arbitration done at the CIFC to be better recognized globally.
However, setting up such a separate legal system within the country is against the constitution and requires constitutional amendments.