Lanka's goal - to become the Wonder of Asia:

Maritime industry, a key player in economy

by Shirajiv SIRIMANE

For ancient mariners who travelled from the West to the East along the Seda Mawatha or 'Silk route', along the network of interlinking trade routes, Sri Lanka or "Serendib" became a haven for anchoring sailing craft.

The journey that started during that era has continued and today Sri Lanka is simultaneously developing five international ports; in Colombo, Oluvil, Hambantota, Galle and Trincomalee.

The Mahinda Chinthana in its endeavour to make Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia, has identified the maritime industry as one of the main players in this mission.

The aim to make Sri Lanka the regional maritime hub seems to have been accepted by the global community with over Rs. 130 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) worth of investments being pledged by them. These would be in the areas of manufacturing, assembling, warehousing, cargo handling and other relevant industries.

Over one billion US dollars has already been invested on the Mahinda Rajapaksa Port in Hambantota while the Sri Lanka Ports Authority has received US$ 1.2 billion worth of offers to invest in the Port of Colombo.

Chairman Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Dr. Priyath Wickrama said that in addition US$ 800 million would be invested and the funding would be made available by the Asian Development Bank, People's Republic of China, India, Denmark and Japan.

Dr. Wickrama said the 30-year terrorism that prevailed in the country caused significant hardships for the people, the environment and the Sri Lankan economy. "During this dark era the economy was virtually at a standstill with inhumane attacks on economic targets by the LTTE including the ports."

"This unfortunate situation created by them resulted in Sri Lanka being listed as a high risk area and as a consequence, higher insurance premiums had to be borne by the ships calling at the ports of Sri Lanka. This resulted in higher freight rates to be paid by the importers and exporters, leading to higher prices for imports and discouraging exports from Sri Lanka. The situation became even worse with the withdrawal of shipping lines which dispatched their ships to Sri Lankan sea ports," the Chairman said.

Incidents of piracy

He however cautioned that the increased number of piracy- related incidents has affected the tranquil social set-up of the global arena at present. Although it is not rampant within the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, the country has developed its national maritime policy to minimise such incidents with the strengthening of the coast guard service and other maritime related security arrangements.

Incidents of sea piracy are not frequently reported in and around Sri Lanka as in the case of the Malacca Strait, Gulf region and in African waters such as Somalia. The authorities are concerned of all threats of piracy to take all possible steps efficiently within the country and co-operate within the region and internationally to ensure free movement of vessels within the territorial waters of Sri Lanka.

Busiest port

The SLPA has installed all facilities to meet CSI requirements and mega port initiative arrangements. Sri Lankan ports are 100 percent CSI compliant since 2005. "We have made available facilities under the mega port initiative since 2006. Any container or cargo loaded from a sea port in Sri Lanka will be checked and certified under the CSI and mega port initiative programs, that boxes are free from radio active substances and explosives," Dr. Wickrama said.

Expressing his views on the development of the port sector, which is being implemented in the country at present, Dr. Wickrama stated that as the Port of Colombo is becoming the busiest port in South Asia, the necessity to enhance its capacity has arisen. He also said that under the Colombo Port Expansion Project, it was expected to increase the capacity of the port, making Colombo the largest container port in South Asia. The port will be developed in three stages and each container terminal will add another 2.4 m TEUs, enhancing the total capacity up to 13 m TEUs from the existing 4.5 m TEUs. "Asia will be the focal point of growth in the future. China and India have already become economic giants of the world with their economies. Over 22 percent of the world population is in South Asia." The Port of Galle will be developed as a tourist destination with facilities for mooring of yacht in the marinas.

Passenger terminals and other facilities such as Immigration, Customs and shopping centres will be made available with connectivity to the Colombo Galle Highway, enabling anyone to travel from Galle to Colombo within less than one hour.

The Oluvil Port will be opened by the end of the year while the Trincomalee Port is being developed to international standards.

Both China and India are growing at a rapid phase and as a result Sri Lanka will be the ideal location for investors to develop their regional centres to derive the benefits of economic development in these two countries.

"Our workers are very knowledgeable and we have developed infrastructure for the investors, to use these advantageous position for mutual benefit," Dr. Wickrama said.