Sri Lanka to release 50 acres of capital land for investments

Shangri-La Asia

27/11/2017 08:08

COLOMBO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will release nearly 50 
acres of state-owned land in the near future for investments in 
Colombo's commercial area, a minister said on Monday, as the 
island nation targets a record $2.5 billion in total foreign 
direct investments next year.  
    Land scarcity and strict land ownership rules for foreign 
investors have discouraged offshore investors so far. 
    President Maithripala Sirisena's coalition government has 
been gradually clearing some state lands dwelled by illegal 
squatters, mainly around the historic Beira Lake. 
    "We can easily release up to 50 acres in the near future," 
Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka 
told Reuters.  
    "We will call for request for proposal first for the 
government-owned land in the next year. All the shanties will be 
cleared by end of this year." 
    A government official, who has the knowledge on the proposed 
land sale, said the plan is to go for 99-year lease with an 
investment of at least 1.92 billion rupees ($12.5 million) per 
acre. 
    The government will target investments in tourism, leisure 
parks and mixed development projects in the area. 
    Beira Lake is now surrounded by Sri Lanka's tallest 
Chinese-built Lotus Tower and some popular hotel chains 
including Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Asia  0069.HK  and some 
owned by local conglomerate John Keells Holdings  JKH.CM . 
    The head of the government's Board of Investment said last 
week the country aims to attract $2.5 billion in FDI next year 
from this year's target of $1.5 billion.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1NR2UK 
 ($1 = 153.5500 Sri Lankan rupees) 
 
 (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) 
 ((shihar.aneez@thomsonreuters.com; +94-11-232-5540; Reuters 
Messaging: shihar.aneez.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net 
twitter:@shiharaneez)) 
 
Keywords: SRI LANKA LAND/