Colombo Port a logistic hub in SE Asia soon

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The Colombo Port will be made the renowned logistic hub in the South East Asian region and all our future development activities will consolidate Sri Lanka’s position as a premier maritime logistic centre, Chairman, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Dr. Priyath Wickrama told at the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders’ Association’s 28th AGM held in Colombo.

“We need to improve our efficiency to deliver goods at the right time to the right place. It is important to team up with the Government and industries and exploit their capabilities and to provide improved services. Our aim should be to achieve a higher logistic performing index by harnessing the synergies of other authorities,” he said.

Our focus should be on processes and strategies that seamlessly help to improve our efficiency and capitalize on being at a central point in the world map,” he said. The country needs to focus on the international market as it has only a small domestic market. The South Asian market is huge and largely untapped. Indian Ports are also developing fast. However, due to strategic location of the Colombo Port we are in an advantageous position to attract cargo volumes, he said.

The Government has invested 1.2 billion dollars under the Colombo Port Expansion Project to develop the Port and 1.5 million dollars in other related investments to meet the growing demand. The South Container Terminal will be set up at a cost of 345 million dollars and a further 2.5 million dollars will be invested on capacity building. It will handle larger vessels.

Construction work on the Hambantota Port is being carried our according to the plan and it is expected to be completed by 2010. The port at Kankesanthurai will be cleared and revived shortly, he said.