A new transport master plan is being prepared to economically move people and freight, said Dhammika Perera, secretary to the ministry of transport.
Investments are needed to modernise the existing infrastructure and systems which were neglected owing to a 30-year ethnic war that ended in May 2009.
Perera, a former head of the island's investment promotion agency, said the government had its own investments under the master plan but was also open to proposals by the private sector.
Perera, also a businessman and well-known investor in the stock market, promised speedy approvals to private sector investments, in contrast to the usual bureaucratic delays that investors face.
"Any private sector proposal - we can give an immediate 'yes' or 'no' answer," Perera told the business and the investor community at a transport and logistics forum Monday organised by the Shippers’ Academy Colombo.
"If we say 'yes' they can invest. You can come and meet me (any time).
There are no pending