Mr. Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports and Minister of Development Coordination and Supervision, said that, in the charge of HIPG, Hambantota Port has become one of Sri Lanka’s busiest ports. As a free port in Sri Lanka, Hambantota Port boasts strengths in policies, taxation, and supporting port logistics facilities. It serves as an important platform for the upgrading and development of Sri Lanka’s industries, so the Sri Lankan Government will step up support for its development.

Mr. Sanjaya Mohottala, Chairman of Sri Lanka’s BOI, highly appreciated the achievements HIPG has made in bolstering the development of Sri Lanka’s industries by actively attracting investment in the Hambantota Port Industrial Park. Signing the MOU on strategic cooperation indicates that a higher-level cooperation pattern between the two sides has initially taken shape, he noted.

HIPG is committed to providing high-quality and efficient services for ships sailing on the east and west waterways, and transforming Hambantota into an international industrial park for the world. It is hoped that within the new cooperation framework, the two sides can share with each other in terms of port resources, terminal facilities, industrial park resources, and overall planning, and work together to deepen cooperation for mutual benefits, Chief Representative of China Merchants Group to Sri Lanka and CEO of HIPG, Johnson Liu, said.

Hambantota Port is a key cooperation project between China and Sri Lanka under the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Located at the southern tip of Sri Lanka, it is a comprehensive artificial deepwater seaport, which many cargo ships traveling among Aisa, Europe and Africa would pass by.

Source: Xinhua News