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AFP
Colombo
China will invest $1 billion in the construction of three 60-storey buildings at a mega-project near Sri Lanka's main port, Colombo said Tuesday, as Beijing aims to boost its influence in the Indian Ocean.
The deal follows an earlier Chinese investment of $1.4 billion to carry out reclamation work for the wider Colombo International Financial City development, strategically located next to Sri Lanka's harbour, the only deep sea container port in the region. The countries hope the project, initiated by former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, will create a financial centre in the Indian Ocean comparable with those in Singapore and Europe, drawing billions in foreign investment and thousands of jobs.
Sri Lankan officials said 60 percent of the 269 hectare (672 acre) reclamation, due to finish next year complete with yacht marina, had already been completed.
No completion date was given for the buildings, the first for the development.
"China Harbour (company) will put in $1 billion to build three buildings,"Sri Lanka's Urban Development Minister Champika Ranawaka told reporters in the capital.
