China keen to make Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port profitable ventures

By Chathuri Dissanayake in Beijing

The state-owned Chinese company China Communication and Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC) is positive about turning around the Mattala Airport, currently considered a liability for the Government, to generate business in the future, along with the Hambantota Port.

Stressing the need for establishing industries to boost the economy, CCCC International Executive President Li Qingwei was confident of the infrastructure development projects in place recording revenue within a short period. 

Speaking to Daily FT on the sidelines of a familiarisation program for a delegation of South Asian journalists held in Beijing, Qingwei said that investors should be given room to establish industries in the area utilising now developed infrastructure.

“The infrastructure cannot stand alone; it has to be complemented by industries. You cannot have industries first and infrastructure later. Now that the infrastructure is in place industries should be allowed time to be set up to have economic activities,” Qingwei said.

The company is also in discussion with a “number of Government departments” focusing on “several objectives” regarding the Hambantota International Airport, CCCC subsidiary, China Habour Engineering Co, General Manager Assistant of Marketing Li Jing told journalists. The airport mostly functions as an emergency airport at present.

A subsidiary of CCCC, China Port Company, was also responsible for the construction of the Hambantota Port, which the Government hopes to manage as a public-private partnership with China Merchant Company. China Port Company failed to secure the bid. However, reports from Beijing have indicated that the two companies may form a joint venture to manage the port, which holds a strategic position in China’s One Belt One Road initiative.

CCCC also said that there are still “processes to be completed” for the Port City project to be back on track. Answering a question raised at a news conference regarding the impact of the temporary halt to work on the project in 2015 pending a Government decision, Jing said that although they had developed good relations with the Sri Lankan side since the initial hiccup in 2015, which resulted in a temporary shutdown of the project work, the company still had more to do for the project’s smooth functioning. 

“For this project the Chinese side and Sri Lankan side has worked closely together but there are still some major processes to be completed by the Chinese side, so once we complete these processes then it will be a big leap for the project,” Jing said. However, she stopped short of detailing the nature of these processes.

Following the suspension of work for almost a year, the company now expects to complete the project in the 2019-2020 period, Jing revealed. To date, more than 90 hectares has been reclaimed, she said.