Sri Lanka has approved a billion US dollar mixed development tower block project in Colombo Port City, where the sea has been reclaimed by a Chinese company at a cost of 1.7 billion dollars, ministers said.

“The Cabinet has approved Sri Lanka’s largest mixed development project,” Cabinet spokesman said.

“It will be in two phases.”

In the first phase which will take four years, 400 to 500 million US dollars would be invested and in the second 4-year phase another 500 to 600 million US dollars would be invested, he said.

The project will have hotels, residential and commercial space and also a marina, he said.

Investor confidence had been improved by the way Sri Lanka tackled the Coronavirus crisis, he said.

CHEC is also expected to market land in the reclamation to private investors after tax concessions had been finalized.

CHEC had filled 440 hectares of land. CHEC gets 116 hectares of buildable land.

The five towers would be on 6.8 hectares of land.