Скачать или смотреть Colombo Port City Economic Commission: Investment, GDP, and Tax Incentive Debate

“Port City Investments, GDP Boost & Tax Reforms Explained | Key Insights & Tough Questions” | 2025.11.25 CoPF Clip 01


This video captures a session of the Committee on Public Finance, chaired by Harsha de Silva, where members of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC) and the Ministry of Finance present and debate proposed amendments to regulations concerning fiscal incentives.

Key Discussion Points:

Economic Projections: The CPCEC detailed its targets, including attracting approximately $14 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which is expected to translate into a recurring economic value addition of $13 billion to the GDP annually once the port city is fully operational.

Job Creation: The project is projected to create approximately 140,000 jobs when operational, with a breakdown across skilled and semi-skilled categories.

Tax Reform Debate: The core discussion centered on revising tax incentives for Primary and Secondary Businesses of Strategic Importance (BSIs). The new regulation replaces the expired 25-year tax holiday with a revised structure that includes:

Primary BSIs (land developers) receiving tax holidays based on investment size (e.g., up to 15 years for investments over $1 billion).

Secondary BSIs receiving a 4-year tax incentive at a rate of 7.5% corporate income tax, down from the previous 25-year, 0% exemption.

Investment Status: As of late 2024, the CPCEC reported 83 Authorized Persons (APs) registered, leasing 46,000 square meters of space and employing around 3,000 people (2,400 local).

Committee Concerns: Members pressed the CPCEC for:

Clearer timelines for the expected $14 billion FDI.

The rationale for removing the more "transparent" Enhanced Capital Allowance option.

Reassurance that the reduced incentives would not deter investors, citing that of 140 interested parties, only six had withdrawn interest so far.

Measures to prevent cannibalization of businesses from the mainland economy.


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සියළු ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින්ගේ ජීවිත ආලෝකමත් කළ හැකි දූෂණයෙන්, වංචාවෙන් තොර රටට වගකියන දේශපාලන සංස්කෘතියක් බිහිකිරීමේ සටනට ආචාර්ය හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා සමග අත්වැල් බැඳගැනීම පිළිබඳව ඔබට ස්තූතියි. වැඩි තොරතුරු දැනගැනීමට පහත සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ සම්බන්ධ වන්න.

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