A China-funded port city being constructed in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo has completed the reclamation of land from the sea and will soon be ready for the second phase, China's CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. said on Wednesday.
The mega 1.4-billion-U.S. dollar Colombo Port City project is co-developed by the Sri Lankan government and China's CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd under the Belt and Road Initiative.
In a ceremony held at the Colombo Port City, officials said the project had marked a milestone with the completion of land reclamation and the last of the four state-of-the-art dredgers used for the sand mining operation had left the project site.
In total, 269 hectares of land from the ocean had been reclaimed.
Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka said the Colombo Port City was a technological marvel and one of the most spectacular development projects Sri Lanka had ever seen.
"Sri Lanka is going to be the center of change in the next few years and the Port City is going to be one of the most vital projects in getting us there. The city is going to make Sri Lanka become the center of South Asia," the minister said.
He added the Colombo Port City was part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which was pushing Sri Lanka's economic outlook in an entire new direction.