The Trincomalee harbour in today’s strategic maritime context would be ideal for functioning as a commercial hub and as a centre for regional maritime security architecture focusing the Bay of Bengal, Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando said.
Speaking at the first round of Trincomalee Consultations held in Colombo, organised by the Pathfinder Foundation, Fernando said security is an important prerequisite to economic development.There are written and unwritten practices that have affected our economy and security, that is related to the sea around us. It is common to the other Bay of Bengal countries too.”
Due to the economic and strategic importance of the Indian Ocean, the region has become an area of geo-political and geo economic competition for major powers. Fernando said the Trincomalee port area development has been appallingly slow and the road for investment is wide open.It is now limited to wheat milling, cement production, petroleum product development, minor fishery development and tourist service delivery.
He also noted that plans are being taken to jointly develop the balance oil tank farms with India.
“If it is executed, it will make a visible impact in the Trincomalee business environment.”
A master plan for the development of Trincomalee is undertaken by Singapore infrastructure consultancy, Surbana Jurong focusing on shipping manufacturing and tourism sectors. The plan is set to cover transportation tourism infrastructure, environmental implementation proposals.
The Hambantota development plans now pursued will be complemented by Trincomalee development activities and both will compete to gain from the Bay of Bengal business environment.
The population of Bay of Bengal community exceeds 1.8 billion apart from the sheer size of the population, the bay also has considerable economic potential led by India which is poised to become the one of the strong economic powers in the world.
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