With the upgrading of the Colombo port as the best port in South Asia and 24th best in the world by UNCTAD, Sri Lankan Government is set to invite Japan once more to acquire the East Container Terminal (ECT) ignoring the mounting public protests, Sri Lanka Port Development Authority top official said.
The ECT is being offered to Japan at a time when Sri Lanka is requesting an IMF bailout. Whether Japan would agree or not, the negotiations to persuade the development partners to grant Sri Lanka a 10-year moratorium in exchange for the IMF facility are still ongoing.
The ECT is being offered to Japan at a time when Sri Lanka is requesting an IMF bailout. Whether Japan would agree or not, the negotiations to persuade the development partners to grant Sri Lanka a 10-year moratorium in exchange for the IMF facility are still ongoing.
The ECT is being offered to Japan at a time when Sri Lanka is requesting an IMF bailout. Whether Japan would agree or not, the negotiations to persuade the development partners to grant Sri Lanka a 10-year moratorium in exchange for the IMF facility are still ongoing.
Now that the ECT is heading to Japan, problems could arise because the powerful Trade Unions are already upset about the most recent plan to sell State assets to international partners.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its new Review of Maritime Transport 2022 has revealed that the Port of Colombo is the highest-performing port in South Asia.
The Review of Maritime Transport is a recurrent publication prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat since 1968 with the aim of fostering the transparency of maritime markets and analyzing relevant developments.
The data in the report suggested that despite the challenges of socio-political turbulence the country is struggling to overcome, the Colombo Port has remarkably improved its global rank.
According to the Container Port Performance Index 2022 initiated by the World Bank and S&P Global Port Performance Program quoted in the Review, Colombo Port, which was ranked 33rd last year, has been ranked 24th this year.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port, which ranked second last year, has been ranked first this year, while Japan’s Yokohama Port, ranked first last year, has ranked 10th this year.
Meanwhile, the review finds that Asia remained the world’s leading maritime cargo handling centre in 2021, accounting for 42% of exports and 64% of imports.
The report further observed that in 2021, around 40% of total containerized trade was on the main East-West routes – between Asia, Europe and the United States. Non-main lane East-West routes such as South Asia-Mediterranean accounted for 12.9%.
