{"id":249509,"date":"2026-10-21T23:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T17:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=249509"},"modified":"2026-10-21T23:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T17:51:34","slug":"colombo-port-city-billions-promised-investors-departing-who-is-accountable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/colombo-port-city-billions-promised-investors-departing-who-is-accountable\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombo Port City: Billions Promised, Investors Departing\u2014Who Is Accountable?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Vishwamithra<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie\u2014deliberate, contrived and dishonest\u2014but the myth\u2014persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.\u201d <\/i>~ John F. Kennedy, Yale University Commencement Address, 1962<\/p>\n

Colombo Port City<\/a><\/span> was conceived as the glittering symbol of Sri Lanka’s economic future. A new financial metropolis rising from the Indian Ocean, attracting international capital, multinational corporations, luxury developments and thousands of employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

It was to become Sri Lanka’s answer to Singapore and Dubai.<\/p>\n

Twelve years after its inauguration, however, an uncomfortable question demands an answer: has Colombo Port City become a functioning international business center, or does it remain an enormously expensive monument to promises awaiting fulfilment?\"\"<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

The latest disclosures before Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance have given that question renewed urgency. Of ten earlier investment proposals examined by the Committee, five have reportedly withdrawn or are no longer proceeding.<\/p>\n

Five out of ten.<\/p>\n

For a country desperately seeking foreign investment after its devastating economic collapse, that is hardly a statistic to celebrate. Yet the more disturbing issue may not be the withdrawals themselves. It is what the parliamentary proceedings reveal about the credibility of investment proposals, regulatory scrutiny and the accountability of those entrusted with managing this extraordinary national asset.<\/p>\n

The Five Withdrawals\u2014and the Missing Names<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Among the projects identified as no longer proceeding were Asiri Port City Hospital, Gateway International Campus, Clothespin Management and Development, and Universal Entertainment Colombo.<\/p>\n

Asiri’s proposed hospital and Gateway’s educational institution would have contributed to the development of a functioning urban economy. Clothespin’s proposal was considerably more extravagant.<\/p>\n

Gazetted in July 2025, it envisaged a seven-star hotel, luxury residences, premium offices, retail facilities and an extraordinary vertical art gallery intended to establish a Guinness World Record.<\/p>\n

A magnificent spectacle on paper.<\/p>\n

But the investor subsequently decided not to proceed.<\/p>\n

According to the parliamentary discussion, the application fee paid to the Colombo Port City Economic Commission amounted to just $10,000. A further relatively small deposit may have been forfeited to the Chinese project company. For an undertaking advertised in such grandiose terms, the apparent financial exposure was remarkably modest.<\/p>\n

Universal Entertainment Colombo, meanwhile, withdrew during due diligence for a ten-hectare integrated resort development associated with gaming and casino activities. But what about the fifth withdrawal?<\/p>\n

The published proceedings do not establish a fifth company’s identity with sufficient clarity. Indeed, the Commission’s Director-General reportedly could not identify two other entries on the parliamentary list.<\/p>\n

That in itself is troubling.<\/p>\n

When Parliament examines the fate of major investment proposals, the responsible authority should be able to identify the applicants, their commitments and their present status without hesitation. <\/b>Transparency cannot begin and end with announcing investments.<\/p>\n

The Chinese Beginning<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Colombo Port City was launched in September 2014 during Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span>‘s presidency, with Chinese President Xi Jinping participating in its inauguration. China Harbor Engineering Company, through CHEC Port City Colombo, became the principal developer of the massive land-reclamation undertaking.<\/p>\n

The initial Chinese-backed investment was approximately $1.4 billion. Some 269 hectares of land were to be reclaimed from the sea, creating an entirely new urban extension adjoining Colombo’s commercial district. The project carried unmistakable geopolitical significance.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka occupied a strategic position along major Indian Ocean shipping routes. China was expanding its international infrastructure presence through the Belt and Road Initiative. For Beijing, Port City represented an opportunity to deepen its economic footprint in a strategically important location.<\/p>\n

For Colombo, it promised foreign capital, modern infrastructure and a place within an increasingly competitive international financial landscape. Those interests were not necessarily incompatible.<\/p>\n

But the scale of Chinese involvement inevitably raised questions about sovereignty, commercial control, regulatory independence and Sri Lanka’s ability to secure lasting economic benefits. Such questions deserved serious public examination from the beginning.<\/p>\n

A Project Surviving Political Revolutions<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The election of Maithripala Sirisena<\/a><\/span> in January 2015 brought an abrupt change. His administration suspended Port City construction in March 2015 amid concerns involving environmental approvals and project documentation.<\/p>\n

However, after further examination and negotiations, the project was revived in 2016.<\/p>\n

The interruption illustrated a recurring weakness in Sri Lankan governance: major national investments frequently become entangled in political transitions, with each administration reassessing arrangements inherited from its predecessor.<\/p>\n

The land reclamation was completed in 2019. In 2021, during Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span>‘s presidency, Parliament enacted the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, establishing a special regulatory framework intended to attract investors through administrative facilitation and financial incentives. The project thus survived successive governments, constitutional controversies, economic upheaval and Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt crisis. Its political durability has been impressive. Nevertheless, its ultimate commercial success remains to be demonstrated.<\/p>\n

Who Owns the Dream?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

An important distinction must be maintained. Colombo Port City is not simply a Chinese-owned foreign enclave. It operates within Sri Lankan sovereign territory under a special legal and commercial framework. Nevertheless, CHEC Port City Colombo occupies a central position as master developer, with substantial land-development and leasing interests.<\/p>\n

The Colombo Port City Economic Commission is responsible for regulation and investment facilitation. That arrangement creates a complex relationship between the Sri Lankan state, the Chinese developer and prospective international investors.<\/p>\n

The public deserves to understand how the benefits, risks and responsibilities are distributed.\u00a0 <\/span>How much capital has actually entered Sri Lanka? How much represents investment commitments rather than completed expenditure? How much income will eventually accrue to the Sri Lankan economy? And how many sustainable employment opportunities have materialized?<\/p>\n

These are not hostile questions. They are the elementary questions any responsible government must answer.<\/p>\n

Billions on Paper, Results on the Ground<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The Commission informed Parliament that nine land parcels, valued at approximately $1.12 billion, had been leased, while further investments worth around $1 billion were being pursued. Officials also reported progress on the marina, residential developments and the Colombo International Financial Centre. These developments must be acknowledged. It would be inaccurate to suggest that all construction has stopped or that every investor has abandoned the project. But a fundamental distinction remains.<\/p>\n

A proposed investment is not an investment received. A signed agreement is not a completed building. And a completed building is not necessarily a commercially successful enterprise.<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka’s political history is crowded with announcements of billions in prospective investment. Too often, the announcements received greater publicity than the eventual results. Port City cannot be permitted to become another chapter in that familiar story.<\/p>\n

The Bureaucracy and the Investment Climate<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The controversy also raises a larger question about Sri Lanka’s administrative machinery. Foreign investors require more than attractive tax concessions and impressive architectural illustrations. They require predictable regulations, transparent procedures, reliable infrastructure, legal certainty and decisions delivered within reasonable timeframes.<\/p>\n

The government must determine whether the withdrawals resulted from weaknesses in investor screening, changing commercial circumstances, financing difficulties, regulatory uncertainty or administrative delays. It would be irresponsible to attribute every withdrawal to bureaucratic obstruction without evidence.<\/p>\n

But it would be equally irresponsible to dismiss the withdrawals as ordinary commercial decisions without examining their causes. A properly functioning investment authority should be able to provide a credible explanation for each abandoned proposal. Otherwise, investment promotion risks becoming an exercise in collecting applications and issuing optimistic announcements.<\/p>\n

AKD Inherits the Promise\u2014and the Responsibility<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Anura Kumara Dissanayake<\/a><\/span> did not conceive Colombo Port City. The NPP did not negotiate its original Chinese arrangements or enact its governing legislation. The project’s history belongs to several administrations. But responsibility for its present direction now rests with the government in office.<\/p>\n

AKD’s administration has promised transparency, accountability and a fundamental transformation of governance. Port City offers an opportunity to demonstrate those commitments in practice.<\/p>\n

The government should publish a comprehensive account of the project’s investment pipeline, distinguishing binding commitments from preliminary expressions of interest. It should identify withdrawn proposals, disclose the reasons where commercially and legally permissible, and establish whether deficiencies in screening or administration contributed to their failure. The Commission should face rigorous parliamentary scrutiny without turning that scrutiny into political theatre.<\/p>\n

And investors must receive fair, consistent treatment, regardless of whether their capital originates in China, India, Europe, the Middle East or elsewhere. The objective must be to protect Sri Lanka’s economic interests, not to conduct another ideological argument about foreign powers.<\/p>\n

The Wider Chinese Question<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

China’s involvement in Sri Lankan infrastructure has long attracted controversy, particularly over Hambantota Port and the financial consequences of ambitious development projects. But criticism must be grounded in commercial realities rather than geopolitical slogans. Chinese investment is neither inherently beneficial nor inherently harmful.<\/p>\n

Its value depends upon the terms negotiated, the economic returns generated and the institutional safeguards protecting Sri Lanka’s interests. The same standard should apply to American, Indian, European or any other foreign investment. Sri Lanka cannot afford the luxury of rejecting capital because of its national origin. Neither can it afford to surrender sound economic judgment because an investment arrives accompanied by diplomatic ceremony and extravagant promises.<\/p>\n

The Final Reckoning<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Colombo Port City should not be judged solely by its spectacular skyline or the number of international delegations entertained within its boundaries.<\/p>\n

Its success must be measured through functioning businesses, genuine foreign capital inflows, sustainable employment, technological development and measurable benefits to the national economy.<\/p>\n

The five reported withdrawals are not proof that Port City has failed. They are, however, a warning that deserves investigation rather than public-relations reassurance. The country has already endured enough economic experimentation, political vanity and expensive miscalculation.<\/p>\n

AKD and the NPP now have an opportunity to insist upon something Sri Lanka’s development history has too often neglected: accountability for results.<\/p>\n

A city can be reclaimed from the sea through engineering. But economic credibility cannot be reclaimed through publicity.<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

That requires competent administration, transparent institutions and the courage to distinguish commercial reality from political fantasy. Colombo Port City was promised as Sri Lanka’s gateway to the future.<\/p>\n

The question now is whether those entrusted with its future can finally turn that promise into a functioning economic reality.<\/p>\n

*The writer can be reached at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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