Korea Eximbank , ADB to draw blueprint for Colombo-Trinco economic corridor!!!

[ibnanv]

From Left: Sang-Hak Jeon (Senior Loan Officer, KSP Team, Korea Eximbank), Priyantha Ratnayake (Director General, Department of External Resources), Utsav Kumar (Economist, Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, South Asia Department, Asian Development Bank).

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) signed an aide memoire with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) on Wednesday, marking the launch of ADB-KSP Joint Consulting to support the GoSL in drawing a blueprint for the Colombo-Trincomalee Economic Corridor (CTEC).

The signing ceremony was preceded by a high-level meeting (consultation workshop) where the interim report prepared by the ADB study team was presented to the government officials. KSP team also took the opportunity to unveil its study plan at the workshop. Another workshop was held subsequently on 27th April with private sector stakeholders in an effort to create awareness about the CTEC development plan and also to initiate close cooperation and engagement with private sector.

CTEC development plan is a long-term and holistic policy instrument that provides opportunity for inclusive and sustainable development of Sri Lanka. As Sri Lanka is on the threshold of upper-middle income status, it becomes increasingly important to synergize industry, infrastructure, logistics, and urbanization to create more jobs and income. In this context, GoSL has requested the ADB to lay out a comprehensive multisectoral integrated development plan to support the CTEC initiative.

Korea Eximbank has mobilized five renowned experts equipped with hands-on experiences and knowledge to provide value-added inputs for four areas of CTEC development plan which include

1) urbanization strategies and creation of small cities,

2) trade facilitation at international gateway,

3) investment promotion and investor outreach activities, and

4) promotion of entrepreneurship and innovative industries and enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).

Korea Eximbank’s collaboration with ADB is expected to make the CTEC development plan more implementable because Korean experts are expected to make augmentative contributions to the CTEC initiative based on the very experiences that Korea acquired while carrying out similar economic corridor development projects in 1970s to 1980s.

 

[ibnanv]

Sri Lanka Colombo-Trinco economic corridor study by ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is studying the possibility of creating an ‘economic corridor’ between Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and eastern Trincomalee, a senior official said.

“Transport infrastructure is important for connectivity, to send exports out and so that people and products can move very easily from one place to another,” said Wencai Zhang, Vice President (Operations 1) of the Asian Development Bank who is on a three-day visit to the island.

“We are doing an economic corridor study – looking for a way to develop an economic corridor from Colombo to Trincomalee – going from west to east,” he told a news conference.

“We need to ensure the transport corridor becomes a trade corridor and finally becomes an economic corridor,” he said.

The study will at developing industrial clusters and required infrastructure, such as an expressway, along the corridor, and also see how to support clusters of urban cities along the corridor, Zhang said.

He said the government wants to set up 14 export processing zones in different parts of the country and it was important to ensure these zones are well connected so that exports can be shipped out easily.

“I visited the Kandy EPZ and saw its potential but how do its exports reach Colombo port?”

Better transport infrastructure will also attract more tourists, Zhang said.

 

[ibnanv]

Superb move!! may it succeed.Hats off to this government. This is simlar to New Delhi and Mumbai economic corridor. Where most of factories will be located. Easier transpotaion to ports in either East or West cost of this country.