ECONOMYNEXT:A new financial centre to be built on a Chinese-funded ‘Port City’ reclamation project in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo will function under new laws to ensure policy consistency but stay within the constitution, a policymaker said.
“We’re in the process of finalising the Port City legal framework but nothing we do in the Port City will be contra the constitution,” said Harsha De Silva, State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs.
The financial centre in the Port City will function within the constitutional framework that applies to the rest of the country, he told an economic forum in Colombo organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
“What we want to do is deal with the inconsistency in policy, regulation, and law, so anyone who invests knows English law applies,” De Silva said.
“If you have that peace of mind, then you are more likely to invest long term.”
If the work with the Port City succeeds it can be extended to the rest of the country, De Silva said.