Chinese investor to fund ‘Port City’

A Chinese investor has secured the deal to create the proposed 500 acre ‘Port City’ on reclaimed land on the sea off the Galle Face Green, of which the first stage is believed to cost US $ 700 million, a top Ports Authority official confirmed.

“Negotiations are ongoing with this Chinese investor and it will consist of several phases,” Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Planning and Development Chief Engineer Susantha Abeysiriwardena said, adding that funding would be done solely by the said investor.

“I am not in a position to disclose the identity of the investor at the moment,” he was quick to add.

He further noted that the total investment, although still too premature to disclose, would be a substantial one.

The project is said to commence by end-2013 and completed within three years.

However, Abeysiriwardena added that considering the magnitude of the project, various expansions will take place over a period of 10-15 years.