A delegation from the Sultanate of Oman visited Port City Colombo earlier this month for talks on building a structured investment corridor between the two countries, according to accounts published by Colombo Gazette and Daily FT.
The delegation was led by Pankaj Khimji, Adviser for Foreign Trade and International Cooperation at Oman’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion. He was accompanied by Ahmed Al Rashdi, Oman’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and Moosa Al Kharusi, Projects Division Director at the Adviser’s Office.
What was discussed
The engagement centred on a roundtable covering bilateral investment opportunities, a proposed Oman–South Asia Investment and Trade Corridor, cooperation between the two countries’ special economic zone authorities, and the process for bringing Omani companies into Port City Colombo’s SEZ.
The visit followed a trip in the opposite direction: the Colombo Port City Economic Commission and CHEC Port City Colombo held an investor forum in Muscat earlier this year, meeting Invest Oman and Oman’s special economic zones authority.
Revan Wickramasuriya, Director General of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, told the delegation the zone treats all investors equally regardless of the size or origin of their investment.
The trade baseline
Khimji, also a director of the Khimji Ramdas Group, cited bilateral trade turnover of about USD 223 million in 2022, close to double the USD 118 million recorded in 2018 — figures he called a starting point rather than a target.
He urged Sri Lankan businesses to treat Oman as a gateway to larger regional markets rather than a market of five million people, and Oman to see Port City Colombo as an entry point to South Asia.
“From friendship to enterprise; from connectivity to commerce; and from political goodwill to measurable investment and trade — this is where the next chapter of Oman–Sri Lanka relations must be written,” he said.
Context
Port City Colombo operates as a special economic zone under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act of 2021. Its operators say more than 175 companies are registered in the zone and that over USD 1 billion in investment was secured between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026 — figures supplied by Port City Colombo and not independently verified.
Omani interest extends beyond the zone. Ports and Aviation Minister Anura Karunatilake confirmed this month that Omani proposals were among the 19 bids to operate Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, alongside Chinese and Indian contenders.
