Asia/Pacific News
Sri Lanka Commissions China-Funded Container Terminal
With funding from China, Sri Lanka has commissioned the first of three planned new container terminals in Colombo, International Business Times reports.
The $500 million Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) will be capable of handling some of the world's largest ships and will have facilities comparable to those in world-leading ports like Singapore and Dubai.
Altogether, the Colombo port expansion will cost $2.5 billion, with China providing 85 percent of the money.
The investment by the state-run company China Merchants Holdings (International) gives China, which has also invested in ports in Pakistan and Nepal as well as in the northern Sri Lankan Hambantota port, a greater presence in the world's busiest shipping lane.
"For China to maintain economic growth at home, they also need to go out and secure their supply routes," said Rohan Masakorala, former secretary-general of the Singapore-based Asian Shippers Council.
"In that sense, coming to Colombo is a strategic commercial investment."
China Merchants Holding will operate CICT for 35 years, after which control will go to Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
Sri Lanka has been positioning itself to take advantage of its strategic location to compete against Singapore and Dubai ports, and the SLPA recently said wants Hambantota to lead the region in liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering.
