Govt. considering Saudi proposal for free zone in Polonnaruwa, knowledge city in Valachchenai

Gammon Group Chairman Sheikh Rafik Mohammed presenting the proposal to  President Mathripala Sirisena in Colombo on Monday,while Deputy Minister of Housing and Samurdhi Ameer Ali  looks on

On a proposal made by a Saudi-based company, the Sri Lankan Government is to study a deal to establish a free zone in Polonnaruwa and a knowledge city in Valachchenai in the Eastern Province of the island.

The decision was made during a talk between President Maithripala Sirisena and Sheikh Rafik Mohammed, Chairman of Gammon Group, in Colombo on Monday. Deputy Minister of Housing and Samurdhi Ameer Ali was also present during the discussions.

Speaking to Arab News following the talks, Mohammed said that the infrastructure for the proposed free zone in Polonnaruwa would be made by his company and foreign companies would be brought into the zone to run their own factories within the zone.

“This will not only bring in large sums of foreign exchange to Sri Lanka but also provide thousands of employment opportunities to the local youths,” he said, hoping to develop the zone into a world class facility.

“The knowledge-based city will attract a good number of reputed universities to the Eastern Province, which could host thousands of foreign students to follow their educational pursuits,” he said. “We have also plans to propose a world class Kidney Transplant Center in Sri Lanka in a place suggested by the Government,” he said.

Following the talks with the President Sirisena, Mohammed had a discussion with the Secretary to President P.B. Abeykoon on technical details regarding the matter. He further said that once the project is mutually agreed, the two parties would sign a Memorandum of Understanding shortly.

Currently, Gammon has some 51 similar zones in 51 countries.

Gammon was successful in bringing several international companies to Jazan Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. “The Jazan project is progressing well. Foreign companies have got licenses to establish their industries.”

Some 42 international companies have agreed to join hands with Gammon Group to develop the new industrial city in Jazan, according to Mohammed. The recently-concluded Jazan Economic Forum (JEF) was a milestone in attracting several leading global giants to tap the vast investment opportunities available in Jazan, as well as to benefit from big incentives offered by the Saudi Government to investors, he said.

He also said the Saudi Government’s keenness in promoting Jazan’s overall development had become a stimulus for the phenomenal and enormous investment flow to this region. “Among the plants going to be established in the city, there is a giant tyre factory with an annual productive capacity of 1.2 million tyres,” he said, adding that Gammon was doing its best to facilitate the investors to complete all the necessary procedures within a short span of time.

Gammon Group is a global group of companies with strong presence in emerging markets such as Asia, Middle East, Europe and North Africa. It is one of the largest civil engineering construction companies which has built the maximum number of bridges in the whole of the commonwealth. For close to a century Gammon its subsidiaries (collectively, the” Group”) has been executing the toughest engineering construction projects. 

It has been involved in designing construction of ports, cross country oil and gas pipelines, thermal and nuclear power station, dams, high-rise structures, international airports, highways, chemical fertiliser factories. Gammon expertise help business generate values from the most challenging circumstances. 

Through participation in State level engineering construction projects, Gammon has made significant contribution to the transportation infrastructure in Asia and Middle East. After becoming one of the world’s leading construction companies, Gammon has diversified into areas including infrastructure management and petrochemicals. Gammon works for government commercial projects. These projects have help grow local economies and improve the quality of life for communities people around the world.

Realising the decades-old dream of expat parents, Gammon has taken the initiative to open an international university in Jeddah, offering degrees in engineering, automobile mechanics and business management.

The new university is a joint venture between Gammon Saudi Arabia and the Bangalore-based Bapuji Institute of Science and Technology, said Mohammed, who is confident that it would be successful project.

“There are more than 10 million foreign workers and their families in the Kingdom,” Mohammed said, adding that they lack a university required for the higher education of their children. At least 300,000 expat children leave the Kingdom every year for higher education.