Recently, China Merchants Port, Sri Lanka Port Authority and local enterprise Access Engineering Co., Ltd. formally signed the South Asia Commercial and Logistics Center Project Agreement in Colombo to jointly build a modern multi-functional logistics center in South Asia. Miao Jianmin, chairman of China Merchants Group, and De Silva, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation of Sri Lanka, attended the project signing ceremony.

De Silva first extended a warm welcome to Miao Jianmin's visit. He thanked China Merchants for its successful investment in Sri Lanka before, which created very obvious economic benefits for Sri Lanka; He is very grateful to China Merchants for its trust and timely support to Sri Lanka for investing a huge amount of money to improve the port logistics facilities. He said that the South Asia Commercial and Logistics Center project is not only a long-awaited modern logistics facility in the Port of Colombo, which can improve the port’s logistics service functions, but also cooperate with the east-west terminals of the Port of Colombo, which is currently under development, to effectively enhance the comprehensive influence of the port and further enhance Competitiveness of Port of Colombo in South Asia region and world ports.

De Silva pointed out that this project is an outstanding example of public-private partnership, which not only attracted much-needed huge foreign investment to Sri Lanka, but also actively promoted the development of local private enterprises in Sri Lanka. He hopes that local enterprises can make good use of the opportunity of cooperation with international investors like China Merchants to develop faster and better. He thanked China Merchants for its contribution to the Sri Lankan port industry, and thanked the Chinese government for its long-term support and assistance to Sri Lanka. Finally, he wished that the project could be built into a first-class commercial and logistics center in the region and help Colombo Port become a more outstanding and competitive port.

Miao Jianmin said that Sri Lanka is a traditional friend of China, and the friendship between China and Sri Lanka has a long history. As the largest foreign-invested enterprise in Sri Lanka, China Merchants has already invested US$1.6 billion in Sri Lanka. Including the South Asia Trade and Logistics Center project, China Merchants will invest more than US$2 billion in Sri Lanka. China Merchants will further strengthen the cooperation with local enterprises in Sri Lanka, grasp the rare business opportunities, and make more contributions to the economic development of Sri Lanka.

Project Overview

The South Asia Commercial and Logistics Center project is located in Colombo Port, with a total investment of 392 million US dollars. It is a port-based multi-storey warehouse logistics project invested and developed according to the construction-operation-transfer model. Packing, bonded warehousing, free port business, warehouse leasing and port trade logistics and other businesses.

The project partners have registered and established a joint venture company in Sri Lanka, of which China Merchants Port holds 70% of the equity of the joint venture company, and the project franchise period is 50 years.

As the largest port in Sri Lanka, Colombo Port is an important hub port in South Asia. According to China Merchants Port, the South Asia Trade and Logistics Center project will not only greatly improve the country's logistics service level, but will also attract more business and throughput to the Port of Colombo, consolidating the Port of Colombo's hub position.

The local media in Sri Lanka called it the largest commercial and logistics center in South Asia: the center will be built in the center of Colombo Port, adjacent to the port city and CBD, and directly connected to the airport through the elevated port highway. The complex will be an eight-storey building with 530,000 cubic meters of storage capacity, and construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2023 and be completed by the end of 2025.Editor/Ma Xue