Colombo Port City opens early next year, offering tax concessions

A mega Chinese real-estate development in Sri Lanka will open early next year offering tax concessions to attract investors and revive the struggling economy, the government said Tuesday in its first budget, AFP reported.

“We believe that the Colombo Port City will become a prime choice for investors and business community due to the business and investor-friendly legal framework,” said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Colombo Port City — a $1.4 billion land reclamation project beside Colombo’s port which started in 2014 — has doubled the size of Sri Lanka’s current financial district.

The development — the largest single foreign investment in Sri Lanka so far — is one of several massive Asian infrastructure projects funded by China as Beijing increases its footprint in the region.

The government is hoping the development will attract new investment to the country.

“I expect to present to parliament a new legal framework conducive to promote commercial services and investment in this Special Economic Zone in January,” Prime Minister Rajapaksa, who is also the finance minister, told parliament in his budget address.

According to AFP, he said the Port City — an area of 269 hectares (665 acres) reclaimed from the Indian Ocean — will offer tax concessions to attract trade, banking and foreign exchange transactions.

The government is set to build roads and set up electricity and water supplies as it tries to attract commercial property developers.