President says Govt. to make Sri Lanka region’s air, sea hub

• Kicks off 30 year development plan for Colombo North Port workshop

President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday declared plans to make Sri Lanka the region’s air and sea hub.

Addressing the 30 year development plan of the Colombo North Port workshop, the President highlighted the adjustments to be made in making Sri Lanka the hub of the Indian Ocean when the whole logistics and transportation in the region changes with the Chinese involvement in the East to West Railways in the African nation.

He emphasised that the Government’s intention is to make Sri Lanka an air and sea hub in the region. The country has to focus on its future in the next 25 years on how to make Sri Lanka a developed country, he added.

The President also stressed that attention should be drawn to the development in India, Pakistan, Iran, and the entire Makran coast, in assessing the role of Sri Lanka.

“Those three will decide the capacity, the number of TUs that we can have, the number of containers, the units we have would depend on that. As it is now, people have a very bright forecast for India, and that’s possible if it can be achieved,” he said.

President Wickremesinghe also revealed that by 2050, India will be the most populous country in the world from 1.4 billion increasing to 1.7 billion people. The industrialisation of India is on a fast track, especially in some areas such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and especially Tamil Nadu.

Highlighting the importance of probing the development in India to find the connectivity that’s going to take place between India and Sri Lanka, President Wickremesinghe pointed out the opportunities that Sri Lanka would receive.

The President also commended Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and the Sri Lanka Port Authority for the work they have done.

“This Ministry is now called the Ministry of Shipping and Aviation. Some people have asked me why don’t we split it and have two ministries, one for shipping and one for aviation. I said no, our intention is to make Sri Lanka an air and sea hub. So we will have one Ministry of Shipping and Aviation. So we’ve got to think differently and I think the Minister is the best person to be in charge,” Wickremesinghe said.

He added that SLPA and the consultants AECOM Infrastructure and Environment UK Ltd. have given a report on the feasibility of the north port.

Referring to aviation infrastructure, he said Katunayake airport, which has to be further developed, and Mattala airport, which has to be commercially viable. Then with those two airports, we’ve just opened up Palali and development of Hingurakgoda as the main domestic airport for the Eastern region and the North Central Province.

This event was attended by Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Chief of Staff to the President and Senior Adviser on National Security Sagala Ratnayake, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra, Sri Lanka Port Authority Chairman Keith D. Bernard, AECOM Infrastructure and Environment UK, Directors among others.