Sri Lanka To Go Ahead With Colombo Port City Project: PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka will go ahead with the Chinese-funded Colombo Port City project.

Speaking to the media at Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum, Wickremesinghe invited Chinese investors to Sri Lanka.

When asked about China's role in Sri Lanka's development, the prime minister noted that China is one of the largest economic power in the world, and within Sri Lanka, there is a large number of projects in infrastructure development which are funded by Chinese government.

He said the Sri Lankan side was going ahead with many of the projects, in areas such as the port city.

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe said that the Sri Lankan economy needs to be restructured and the country’s foreign resources earning are limited. As a result the imbalance in the balance of payment cannot be corrected without any major restructuring, he said.

He acknowledged that the revenue collection mechanism is not working. The international economic situation has not been advantageous to the country as well, he added.

This is the first time that a Sri Lankan political leader is attending the WEF meeting. In an essay he wrote for the forum, Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka is "prioritizing business-friendly policies" so that it can take advantage of today's peace to build a thriving economy.