In the final draft of the national policy of Sri Lanka, it has been mentioned that given the changes in shipping services and emerging competition from other ports, the country’s new national policy for its maritime and logistics sectors foresees reduced dependence on Indian container transhipment cargo, Colombo port’s main business for years.
The final draft of the national policy, that aligns the maritime and logistics sectors to reap better economic benefits, was recently presented to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Ports and Shipping and Southern Development, Mr Saale Ratnayaka, according to reports.
“Major Sri Lankan ports need to transform themselves from ‘regional transhipment hubs’ to ‘Global Maritime Hubs’ in order to face the competition from emerging new regional transhipment ports as well as traditional global competitors,” reports quote the policy as saying.
“Continued dependence on the Indian Subcontinent for a major portion of business will no longer be possible due to emerging regional competition, expansion of direct mainliner service to traditional feeder ports and changes in cabotage laws.”
