Port City promoted in India to lure top property developers

CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, the project company that has undertaken the construction of the US $ 1.4 billion Port City on reclaimed land on the sea off Galle Face promenade, has launched a promotional campaign to lure in international property developers for the project, a company official said. “We are an international company and Port City is an international project. But somewhere down the line, the project got indentified as a Chinese project, which is clearly not the case.

That’s why we are inviting the regional players to invest in the project” CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Liang Thow Ming told Mirror Business. Ming said he would be leaving for Mumbai shortly to hold talks with top Indian property developers to drum up their interest for the Port City project.

The meetings are facilitated by John Lang Lasalle (JLL), a well-known real estate broking firm, which already has a modest presence in Sri Lanka. According to him, this is the first time the project company is marketing the Port City with a physical presence of an official, though certain promotional exercises have already been carried out among several East Asian investors through other channels.

“We are trying to move away from the image that Port City is a Chinese project. In fact, it is easier for us to get Chinese investors to invest in the project. But, as I already said, this is an international project. So, we want international players, and whether they are Chinese, Indian or Korean does not concern us,” Ming remarked. “We will be looking at each investor on their merit i.e. capacity and the investment they bring to the table,” he added. Ming also said the project company is currently looking to hire a consultant to draft the development control regulations for the project to ensure best practices and optimum utilization of the land, wind and sunlight. “By doing this we don’t want to hinder the creativity of each developer. That’s why we are trying to attract the right kind of developers who understand the concept behind the project.” The project is currently awaiting government clearance to recommence work, which the project company officials hope they will receive shortly, once several pending issues are sorted out.