India, Japan to help develop Colombo port

Sri Lanka has signed a cooperation agreement with the governments of India and Japan to revive its long-stalled East Container Terminal (ECT), a second facility under the island nation’s Colombo South Harbour development program. While retaining full ownership of the overall ECT property, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) will establish a joint venture (JV) with Indian and Japanese authorities for operation and maintenance services.

The ECT cooperation deal also marks India’s entry into a market that has seen large-scale Chinese investments in maritime infrastructure in recent years.

India’s other interests in Sri Lanka include its involvement in the construction of a multi-purpose harbour and industrial zone at Trincomalee, about 300 nautical miles from Colombo, and funding through the Export-Import Bank of India for the reconstruction of the Kankesanthurai port, which was devastated by the December 2004 tsunami and Cyclone Nisha in 2008.

The bulk of Colombo’s containerized business comes from trans-shipment traffic to and from the neighbouring subcontinent countries, especially India.

The ECT is located some 3 km away from the China-backed international financial city, known popularly as “port city”, being built on reclaimed land on Colombo’s sea front.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has stated that the envisaged partnership with India and Japan to develop a deep-sea container terminal of the Colombo Port will help one of the world's busiest ports to continue growth and further improve its position.

In a release issued to both clarify and inform interested stakeholders about the envisaged Memorandum of Cooperation

(MoC) between the three governments, of Sri Lanka, Japan and India, on the East Container Terminal of the Port of Colombo, the SLPA said it believes that the envisaged MoC demonstrates Sri Lanka's ability to maintain and further its national interests while cooperating with International Partners.