(MENAFN- NewsIn.Asia) "> Colombo, Jan 16 (newsin.asia): A Chinese funded port city project being constructed in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, has completed the reclamation of land from the sea and will soon be ready for the second phase, China's CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. said on Wednesday. The mega 1.4 billion dollar Colombo Port City project is co-developed by the Sri Lankan government and China's CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd under the Belt and Road Initiative.
In a ceremony held at the Colombo Port City site, officials announced that the project had marked a milestone with the completion of reclamation work and the last of the four state-of-the-art dredgers used for the sand mining operation had left the project site.
In total, 269 hectares of land from the ocean had been reclaimed, preparing the project for investments in the near future.
Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka who was the Chief Guest at the event said that the Colombo Port city is a technological marvel and was one of the most spectacular development projects Sri Lanka had ever seen.
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"Sri Lanka is going to be the center of change in the next few years and Port City is going to be one of the most vital projects in getting us there. Port City is going to make Sri Lanka become the center of South Asia," the Minister said.
He added that the while the Colombo Port City is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, the BRI is pushing Sri Lanka's economic outlook in an entirely new direction.
China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan speaking at the event said the Colombo Port City Project is an important project of the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative in Sri Lanka and it would benefit the Sri Lankan people and society.
"Today, 269 hectares of land has been completely formed, ahead of schedule. This symbolizes that the friendship between China and Sri Lanka runs a long history and is worth more than the value of the investment," the Ambassador said.
The Ambassador further said that to date, the Colombo Port City had created more than 4,000 jobs for the local people, benefiting thousands of Sri Lankan families.
At the same time, the 'Fisherman Livelihood Improvement Program' implemented by the project company had benefited tens of thousands of fishermen and their families.
Based on advanced concepts, rigorous and scientific construction technology, and corporate culture focusing on team building, this project will have a huge contribution to Sri Lanka's social and economic development and the improvement of people's living standards, the Ambassador further said.
Once completed, the Colombo Port City will attract billions of dollars worth of investments.
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