Creating a world class city for South Asia

Port City Colombo: An Overview

Port City Colombo is intended to be Sri Lanka’s main centre and portal for foreign investment. Not merely a financial hub, but also a hub for increasing employment and attracting more foreign direct investment. Sri Lanka’s prime location on the Silk Road, on global shipping lines and airways, and its historic trade and cultural links to India and the Arab world, have the potential to make Port City Colombo a prime destination and top choice, regionally, for financial operations and as an offshore base. The main objective of Port City Colombo is to act as an offshore-base to attract multinational companies, which will lead to increase FDIs, jobs, and an increase in overall economic activity and growth. 

Building a platform to attract Eco-friendly foreign direct investment for Sri Lanka

The primary objectives of the Port City Special Economic Zone are to promote the export of services, engage in international business and create a venue that appeals to the diverse International Community, including India, as a destination of choice to live, work and invest in. This is in line with the project’s vision, which is to create a world-class city for South Asia and, undoubtedly, India will play a crucial role as Sri Lanka works to realize this vision. In fact, during World Cities Summit 2022, at an interview with CNA’s Julie Yoo, Deputy Managing Director at Port City Colombo, Thulci Aluwihare, made an open invitation to the world and added that, “Our vision is to create a world class city for South Asia, and India is one of our primary markets, as the largest economy in South Asia and 4th largest in the world.”

Both India and China will be a priority, and key partners, in this endeavour as Sri Lanka enjoys a long, friendly and storied history with these two Asian giants. As Port City Colombo is located within a geopolitically significant area, there are sure to be many opportunities to increase bilateral and even multilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and its key partners, with regard to Port City Colombo and other endeavours too. 

All other nations from around the world are also welcome to be a part of the journey. In fact, as Sri Lanka is a non-aligned country, all will be welcome at Port City Colombo to take advantage of the emerging opportunities.

Today, the global community places a high focus on sustainable development, and sustainability is at the core of Port City Colombo

Attracting Foreign Direct Investments 

Port City Colombo will be a key part of the puzzle when it comes to addressing Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis, and will play a pivotal role in its resolution, as a foreign exchange shortage is a large part of the present crisis. There will be huge employment opportunities created at Port City Colombo, where Sri Lankans can access world class jobs in Sri Lanka, with remuneration in foreign currency/foreign currency equivalents, which will further contribute towards Sri Lanka’s overall foreign currency position, and quality of life. 

It is believed that Sri Lanka will attract approximately USD 5.4bn worth of FDI during the reclamation, infrastructure development and land lease stages, which will mainly come from foreign capital inflows for the purchase or lease of marketable plots. 

The urgent need to restore investor confidence and access to international capital markets for Sri Lanka cannot be overstated. Through Port City Colombo, Sri Lanka will have an opportunity to reach out to its economically strong neighbour, India, and others in the Middle East, South Asia and Asia Pacific regions, in order to work together to achieve this. 

Due to Sri Lanka’s lucrative labour market, and the introduction of new degree programmes in urban agriculture and marine resources into the country’s higher education system, university students will also be able to find new employment prospects thanks to this project. Port City Colombo will also greatly benefit from Sri Lanka’s burgeoning population of educated foreign language speakers who speak English, Chinese, Hindi, French, Japanese, and Korean.

In fact, as Sri Lanka is a non-aligned country, all will be welcome at Port City Colombo to take advantage of the emerging opportunities

Green and blue Economy  

The ideas of green and blue economies refer to concepts that help makes cities and communities environmentally-sustainable and limit their impact on our oceans, while maximizing their ability to responsibly utilize our natural resources. Port City Colombo will achieve both green and blue economy goals.  

An Eco-Friendly Green City

Today, the global community places a high focus on sustainable development, and sustainability is at the core of Port City Colombo, which aims to be a green city, actively contributing towards the fight against climate change, while also being environmentally friendly on a day-to-day basis. Green cities frequently employ recycling programs, bike lanes, and community parks; they also have high requirements for water quality, which can contribute to a nation’s sustainable development. 

As the largest environmentally-friendly project in Sri Lankan history, Port City Colombo will play a major role in developing sustainability even further in Sri Lanka, and will very likely emerge as a benchmark for environmentally-friendly cities, certainly in South Asia, and potentially amongst the rest of the world too. In fact, all of the developments within Port City Colombo will only include environmentally-friendly structures, as required by law, and there will be no polluting industrial facilities within the zone. 

With long-term environmental sustainability a priority, the Port City hopes to position itself as Colombo’s “green lungs” by implementing various eco-conscious practices. Attesting to this, a third of the development has been dedicated for verdant public parks, open spaces with lush greenery, waterways and beaches. 

Due to Sri Lanka’s lucrative labour market, and the introduction of new degree programmes in urban agriculture and marine resources into the country’s higher education system, university students will also be able to find new employment prospects thanks to this project

An Ocean-Friendly Blue City

The blue economy on the other hand refers to the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and improved livelihoods, jobs, and ocean ecosystems. The World Bank refers to it as the sustainable use of ocean resources that can spur economic growth and improve livelihoods and jobs. The European Commission also sees its promise. It lists aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine biotechnology, ocean energy, and seabed mining as the blue economy-based industries that will generate millions of jobs.

By constructing international level testing vessels, marine floating laboratories, marine floating production facilities and marine floating herb labs, on an international scale, Sri Lanka hopes to launch the blue economy, sustainably using ocean resources to drive economic growth, improved livelihoods, and increased job opportunities, while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem. Other nations can also join and contribute to research through this project. Thus, Port City Colombo is also a tactical undertaking to make the best and most responsible use of Sri Lanka’s priceless marine resources.

Port City Colombo will be a key part of the puzzle when it comes to addressing Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis, and will play a pivotal role in its resolution, as a foreign exchange shortage is a large part of the present crisis

A Beacon of Hope for a Nation and a Region

Overall, as the project edges ever closer to completion, Port City Colombo will emerge as a beacon of hope for Sri Lanka and the South Asian region as a whole. It will provide a venue for free trade, offshore business, financial services, recreation, stylish living, entertainment and so much more. It will be a celebration of economic development and emancipation; a party of responsible prosperity and sustainable wealth creation, where the whole world is welcome!

(The writer serves as the Dean of the Faculty of 
 Humanities and Social Sciences, 
University of Sri Jayewardenepura)