The United States has approved US$15 million to develop digital infrastructure at the Port of Colombo, US Federal Maritime Commission chairperson Laura DiBella said at a meeting with the ports minister on Thursday, Hiru News reported.
The money is not yet committed. DiBella said the funding has been approved by the US State Department and is expected to be formally announced in the coming weeks — once it receives congressional approval. Until Congress acts, this is an intention, not a disbursement.
The meeting
DiBella led a US delegation to the Ministry for talks with Anura Karunathilaka, Minister of Energy, Ports and Civil Aviation. FMC Commissioner Robert Harvey and Ministry Secretary W. W. S. Mangala also attended, alongside other senior officials.
The delegation said stronger digital infrastructure at Colombo would improve operational efficiency and cut vessel turnaround times, and pointed to the port’s importance as a cargo hub serving both Sri Lanka and trade bound for the United States.
Karunathilaka said the government is working to improve the port’s efficiency, accelerate its digital transformation and secure international support for future projects. He said steps have been initiated to strengthen the Merchant Shipping Secretariat into a more empowered authority.
He added that the government is separately seeking financing to expand the port’s breakwater system, which he described as important to developing the second West Container Terminal (WCT-2).
DiBella’s public message was that money alone will not do it
A day earlier, addressing the 8th Colombo International Maritime and Logistics Conference, DiBella argued that infrastructure spending would not be sufficient on its own, the Daily FT reported.
She urged Sri Lanka to build a competitive framework with an enforcement arm comparable to the FMC itself. “You need to put guardrails up. You need to establish a competitive arm,” she said, adding that the country must “de-risk your business environment in order to allow more foreign investment in.”
She pressed for the private sector to lead and the government to enable rather than direct: “You need to let business be the lead.”
On the scale at stake, DiBella said around 500,000 containers of US-related cargo, worth an estimated US$30 billion, move through Colombo. She said the opportunity was time-limited: “This is the time for Colombo to make something happen. This snapshot of time will not last.”
The Daily FT’s report does not mention the $15 million. The two accounts cover different events on the same visit — the conference address on Wednesday, the ministry meeting on Thursday.
It answers a question the visit announcement left open
The FMC leadership arrived in Colombo on a visit running from 6 to 10 September, taking up an invitation Sri Lanka extended in Washington in June.
Our report on that announcement noted that no outlet had named the Sri Lankan officials the delegation would meet or said whether any agreement was expected. Thursday’s meeting answers both: the ports minister, and a funding commitment — though one still contingent on Congress.
Not reported
Hiru does not say what the $15 million would actually buy, over what period, through which US agency the money would flow, or which part of the port’s systems it targets. It does not say when Congress might take it up or what happens if it does not.
Neither outlet gives the cost of the breakwater expansion, the timeline for WCT-2, or what powers a strengthened Merchant Shipping Secretariat would hold. Neither reports whether anything was signed.
