Megapolis should avoid mistakes by other South Asian cities: CCC Chairman

May 04, 2016 (LBO) - The Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce says Sri Lanka should avoid mistakes made by other South Asian cities, when developing the proposed Western Megapolis Project.

“A center piece of the government’s economic development agenda - the Western Region Megapolis project is set to have a massive urban infrastructure build.

But we need to get it right. We must have a strong sustainability focus in this. As a late comer to urbanization, Sri Lanka has a unique opportunity to do things differently, and avoid the mistakes of some other Asian cities” said Samantha Ranatunga, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He made this observation, when he addressed the gathering at the Roundtable Discussion on “Co-operation for Sustainable Urban Development” held on 25th April at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo. The Roundtable Discussion was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in association with the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi and also the Consulate General of Sweden in Sri Lanka. The title of the Roundtable Discussion was “Co-operation for Sustainable Urban Development” and saw the participation of Margot Wallstrom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden on 25th April, 2016. Representatives of leading Swedish companies such as ABB, Axis, Ericsson, Saab, Scania and Volvo attended the discussion and shared their experience of doing business successfully in Sri Lanka. Margot Wallstrom explained how Swedish companies can collaborate to contribute to Sri Lanka’s sustainable urban development initiative and inclusive nation building. Representatives of Government institutions such the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Export Development Board and the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project shared their views at the roundtable discussion.