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Sunday, 17 October 2010

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Assembly plants to be set up:

Vehicle manufacturers eye H'tota

Four international vehicle manufacturing companies are keen to set up assembly plants at the new Magampura Harbour in Hambantota. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Dr. Priyath Wickrama said that this includes Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) of India. M&M which manufactured army vehicles earlier is now a major automobile and tractor manufacturer. It has plants in China and the United Kingdom, and has three assembly plants in the USA.

M&M has partnerships with international companies such as Renault SA, France and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA.

Dr. Wickrama said that a top official of the Group who met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka recently highlighted investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. “They are also keen on making investments in Magampura including developing a Special Economic Zone in Hambantota,” he said.

The Chairman said Magampura has been declared a free port and this would encourage investors and they could do value addition and re-export from the same venue.

“There has also been tremendous response from the local private sector for business at the Hambantota Port and several delegations have already visited the Port,” he said.

He said that apart from the vehicle assembly sector there would also be opportunities for investments in fertiliser, food processing and cement manufacture and for various other assembly plants.

There would be opportunities in the ship-repairing sector too after the second stage is completed, he said.

Stage two of the Magampura Port project will commence by the end of next month and will be completed in three-and-a-half years.

The SLPA chairman said that the investment on this project would be US $ 600 million and they are currently negotiating for funds. “Investors are happy over the progress of the first stage and raising funds would not pose a problem,” he said.

The second stage would add six more berths to the three berths at present.

It is anticipated that over 20,000 employment opportunities would be created in the area after the second stage is completed. This would be in addition to over 25,000 indirect employment opportunities.

He also said that the SLPA would go online from January next year and this would help customers in a big way.

Wickrama said that this would also reduce documentation time and would also help customers make payments via the internet.

 

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