Nov 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will issue a request for proposals for investments in a new port being built in the island’s southern Hambantota region by the second week of December, an official said. SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said business opportunities in the new port range from cement grinding and bagging, fertiliser bagging, and warehousing to vehicle transhipment, ship repair and ship supplies like food and water. Investors can lease land, enter into an equity-sharing joint venture with the SLPA or pay royalty based on production or volume, he told a seminar organised by the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council to highlight investment opportunities. The Hambantota port will be a ‘free port’ where not taxes or other government levies will be charged in order to make it attractive for investors, Wickrama said. The aim was to develop the port, Hambantota city and the area in a planned manner to avoid the kind of unplanned development and illegal urban construction that had caused problems in expanding Colombo port. read more

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