The Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Dr. Priyath Wickrama speaking at the Hambantota Investment Forum said they allowed an additional investor to be roped in to make this investment possible.

“We called for Request for proposals (REP) for the first stage on the project and had short listed 13 investors. We also granted approval for one more investor and the total investment pledged by them is now US $ one billion”, he said.

The Chairman said that they will forward these proposals for Cabinet approval and the project will commence from September. According to the Chairman, these investors will be allocated 100 hectares under phase one and an additional 300 hectares for the second phase.

The investments include a sugar, fertilizer and cement plants, two car assembly plants and petro chemicals related investments.

The investment for the first stage is US $ 600 million and for the second phase it is US $ 800 million making it the biggest single development project in the country.