Commonwealth BF, a unique platform to promote investments:

BOI signs USD 2 billion project agreements

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Project agreements to the value of US$ 2 billion were entered into with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) on infrastructure and mixed development at the conclusion of the recently concluded Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF).

According to the Progress Report 2013 by the Investment Promotion Ministry, the CBF, Sri Lanka’s largest ever business event since independence has served as a unique platform to promote investments into the country and led to the signing of major investment projects.

The major agreements signed include a Chinese investment for US$ 1.3 billion to develop a new commercial centre on 233 hectares of land near the Colombo Port.

When the CBF was in progress, the BOI had signed another agreement for an Australian investment to the value of US$ 450 million on a mixed development project with Property Alliance Capital to develop six acres at Sir James Peiris Mawatha in Colombo.

The agreement on the third investment project was signed between the BOI and the Hong Kong based AVIC International Engineering for a US$ 259 million mixed development project to be set up on a land at R.A. De Mel Mawatha, Colombo, the report said.

Several MoUs were also signed during the CBF which include an MoU signed between Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited and China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC).

The project which has been estimated at US$ 640 million includes the development of two resort projects at the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport and the Bandaranaike International Airport.