ASC Permanent Secretariat set up in Sri Lanka:

Lanka poised to become Asia's maritime hub

Harshini Perera

The setting up of the Permanent Secretariat of the Asian Shippers' Council (ASC) in Sri Lanka will have an immense impact on the maritime activities of Sri Lanka making it the maritime hub in the Asian region, said Asian Shippers' Council, Secretary General, Rohan Masakorala.

He said this is a reward that Sri Lanka received after ending the prolonged civil war in the country.

He said, that the International Community has understood that Sri Lanka can play a leading role as the main hub of South Asia. Many sectors such as tourism, service providers and various other business sectors will have an impact through this and it will in return benefit the country's economy.

The fifth Annual General Meeting of the Asian Shippers' Council was held in August, 2009 and it drew twenty leading shippers representing Australia, China and India.

He said that the bankers, international conventions and other industries should centralize Sri Lanka in the progress of their engagements in business since Sri Lanka is up to international standards in its infrastructure development.

Though the shipments to Sri Lanka dropped 10-15 percent this year due to the recession, Sri Lanka could pick up by the middle of the next year, he said.

Developing infrastructure facilities such as Hambantota port have been able to attract more shippers to the country, said the BOI and Sri Lanka Ports Authority Director Eshana De Silva. He said that Colombo port had 3.68 million TEUs in 2008. On that reason, Colombo port was placed in the 27th place in the world.