Shipping Hub

August 05, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka can become a shipping hub with the opening of the 500 million US dollar port Monday which will help secure maritime supply routes, a senior official said. "Sri Lanka has a window of opportunity to get into and become a shipping hub with the opening of the new port with higher capacity ships coming to port," Rita O’Sullivan, Country Director, Sri Lanka, Asian Development Bank said.

"There is Singapore and Dubai but the Indian ports can’t compete with the new port that can handle big ships with the 18,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) capacity.”

The Chinese owned Colombo International Container Terminal (CITC) in Colombo is located mid-way on the east-west sea route and has facilities on a par with Singapore and Dubai.

The breakwater for the expansion was financed by the ADB.

O’Sullivan was speaking at the launch of Sri Lanka’s Postgraduate Institute of Management inaugural course on public policy for business leaders, academics, researchers and government officials.

The three month course consists six separate modules.

Some of the areas of study that are included are Foundations of Public Polic