Sri Lanka says $1 bn hotel, shopping mall deals inked

Reuters | News Center
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Sri Lanka on Friday said nearly USD 1 billion of foreign investment will flow into a 500-room hotel and a shopping mall, the largest investments so far into its post-war tourism boom.

The island nation's cabinet has approved a USD 500 million shopping mall project by China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) in the heart of the capital, Colombo.

Shangri-La Hotels Lanka, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed hotel operator Shangri-La Asia Ltd, will also build a 500-room hotel along Colombo's sea front, on the site of the army headquarters and defence ministry.

Both will be moved and the land will be leased.

"The total foreign investment on these two projects will be around USD 1,000 million," the government said in its latest cabinet decisions, published on the official website www.news.lk.

"This will assist developing Colombo as a middle income commercial city and also to accommodate nearly 2.5 million tourists expected by 2016."

Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals and revenue hit a record high last year. Tourists brought in more than USD 500 million in the first 11 months as Sri Lanka post-war travel boom gathered speed.

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