Sri Lanka to launch mega business center at southern international airport to attract investors

Sri Lanka's Cabinet of ministers have agreed to transform an international airport on the southern coast into a multipurpose business centre by implementing business opportunities related to air and non-air operations, a Cabinet spokesman said Tuesday.

The Mattala international airport had the potential to be converted into a business centre for foreign investors and therefore measures would be taken to effectively utilize the international airport facilities and assets to create private and public partnership investment opportunities, Government spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said.

A proposal by Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva to call for expressions of interest from investors in aviation-related enterprises was approved by the Cabinet, Gunawardena said.

The Sri Lankan government has offered a number of concessions for flights willing to land at Mattala and the airport resumed international flight operation last month after a lapse of two years.