Govt. vies for renegotiation

The Sri Lankan government has asked for the renegotiation of the lease period in the Hambantota Port Agreement.

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama taking questions from the Japanese media at a Business Seminar hosted by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Tokyo, said they were in the final stages of the process and “hoped to finalize the agreement within the next two weeks”. “We have and agreement in most areas but we are discussing the term of the lease. We have asked that it be reduced from 99 years and the China Merchant Port Holdings Company is looking into whether they can achieve the same results with the current model or change it to a different one if the time period of the lease is to be changed,” explained Minister Samarawickrama.

The Hambantota Port Agreement which will have the Chinese company work on a joint venture with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) on the third phase of the Port, calls for China merchants to purchase an 80 percent stake in the Port at USD 1.12 billion. The current framework agreement also allows the SLPA to buy back a further 20 percent stake in the venture after 10 years of operation, taking the Sri Lankan stake at the Port to 40 percent.

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