Govt. targets Rs.150 b FDI for Megapolis in next 10 years

Saturday, 25 November 2017 01:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Attracts Rs. 5 billion worth of investments for six committed projects so far
UDA Chief calls on local and global investors to explore ample opportunities opening up from 2019 in Port City
Total number of building approvals from July 2016 to July 2017 amounts to Rs. 190 billion
Says UDA has turned into revenue-generating entity, recorded Rs. 1.5 billion profit this year

By Charumini de Silva

The Government has targeted attracting an ambitious Rs. 150 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments within the next 10 years, banking on the country’s Western Megapolis Master Plan, a senior official said.

Urban Development Authority (UDA) Chairman Dr. Jagath Munasinghe was confident that Sri Lanka had the potential to attract Rs. 15 billion in FDI inflows annually within the next 10 years through some major infrastructure projects associated to the Western Region Megapolis Development Master Plan.

“The responses have been very good for the Western Megapolis Master Plan. We called for investments only in the last year and for the committed six lands that have been leased out far, the UDA has received investments worth more than Rs. 5 billion,” he told the Daily FT.

According to him, these committed investments were mainly for mixed developments projects within Colombo and for industry development as well as infrastructure development projects within the Western Province.

Pointing out that the Western Megapolis project held immediate investment opportunities associated with the modern smart city concept, Dr. Munasinghe expressed confidence that Sri Lanka had immense potential to attract Rs.150 billion worth of investments in the next 10 years.

In addition, with the Port City development taking an upswing in land reclamation he noted there would be ample investment opportunities opening up for local and global private investors by 2019.

With regards to the total number of building applications that the UDA had processed from July 2016 to July 2017, Dr. Munasinghe said it amounted to about Rs. 190 billion.

It was highlighted that the construction industry’s growth of 12.8 % was mainly due to the activities of the UDA.

“The UDA was considered a loss-making entity for a long time. However, we have now been able to turn around the institution to make profits. This year we have been able to make profits worth Rs. 1.5 billion,” he added.

In terms of technical performance, the Chairman said they had achieved a lot by streamlining its systems on digital platform and training staff to become efficient in handling these projects in a versatile manner.