Port City Colombo has secured US$2.1 billion in confirmed investment, and the government is targeting a further US$4.1 billion over the next five years, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chaturanga Abeysinghe has said.
The Deputy Minister said the target would be supported by several major projects already under way inside the zone: two large-scale residential developments, a hotel and a convention centre.
He said the confirmed investments are in addition to investment secured through the Sri Lanka Board of Investment, and that several of them involve leading international investors. Individual investors were not named.
Revised tax incentives
Abeysinghe said the government has revised the tax incentives available within Port City, with the aim of bringing them into line with international standards while keeping the development attractive to investors.
Under the revised structure, primary investments qualify for tax concessions ranging from 15 to 23 years, while secondary investments receive a reduced tax rate for four years, according to the Deputy Minister. He did not state the concessionary rate.
The remarks were made in a statement posted on social media. Abeysinghe said Port City was presented as a major investment opportunity at an Australian investment summit held last week; he did not name the summit.
”Tax incentives alone are not sufficient”
The Deputy Minister argued that concessions by themselves will not bring international investors in. Economic stability, investor confidence, connectivity and a clear economic vision are equally necessary to create an attractive investment environment, he said, and the government is working to establish those conditions alongside the US$4.1 billion target.
Context
Port City Colombo operates as a special economic zone under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act of 2021. The US$2.1 billion confirmed figure is broadly consistent with the trajectory the Deputy Minister set out in Parliament in March, when he put primary investments at about US$1.4 billion and secondary investments at about US$600 million, according to a report by The Morning at the time.
The zone has been the focus of sustained investment promotion this month. An Omani trade delegation visited the zone to discuss a proposed Oman–South Asia investment corridor, and China Communications Construction Company — the parent of the zone’s builder — told President Anura Kumara Dissanayake it wanted to expand its investments in Sri Lanka.
At the time of writing, on Sunday evening, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the Deputy Minister’s statement.
