CSH has potential to attract transshipment business

The Colombo South Harbour (CSH) will bring in a large revenue if it attracts transshipment business, said Asian Development Bank, Country Head, Rita O’Sullivan at the inauguration of the Business Leaders Forum at the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) on Thursday.

She said the CSH has enormous potential to attract transshipment business and boost the hub status of the Colombo port. The Colombo South Harbour Development Project nearing completion will be positioned as the best transshipment hub in the South Asia region. The harbour will focus on handling transshipment cargo in the subcontinent. Currently the Colombo port handles around 15 percent of transshipment cargo in the subcontinent.

O'Sullivan said that there should be government policy in place to get the private sector involved in infrastructure development projects. The private sector has a major role to play in steering economic development. Sri Lanka currently does not have a private-public partnership (PPP) specific legislation. Laws in Sri Lanka are sufficient to accommodate PPPs but lack of clarity can cause confusion.

“The ADB is currently preparing a PPP working paper for Sri Lanka,” the ADB Country Head said.

The 2020 country partnership strategy for Sri Lanka focuses on three pillars such as inclusive and sustainable economic development, catalysing private investments and enhancing effectiveness of public investments and human resources and knowledge development. The ADB is mapping scientific research in areas of investment for Sri Lanka. Focus on science and technology is not adequate, O'Sullivan said.

The bank is cross cutting priorities in environment, climate change, gender, good governance and regional cooperation.

It has granted Sri Lanka 166 loans to the tune of $ 5.9 billion and there are 46 ongoing public sector projects worth $ 2.2 billion of which around 27 percent has been for water and municipal infrastructure projects. ADB's country strategy did not include the agricultural sector. “We are revisiting the strategy,” O'Sullivan said. PIM, Director, Prof. Uditha Liyanage said, “We need to go beyond the three C strategy, customer, client and competitor to the fourth C which is the context in which the economy operates. We need to consider the impact of government policy on industry.”

The course on public policy for senior private sector managers will help participants to acquire a sound knowledge on public policy and its impact on industry. The course will commence this month.