The High Commission of Sri Lanka in the Republic of Maldives, in collaboration with CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. hosted the Port City Colombo Investor Forum at the Barceló Nasandhura Malé on 10th August 2026, an invitation-only engagement bringing together a curated gathering of senior Maldivian business leaders, investors and developers.
The forum marks a significant step in the deepening economic relationship between Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and continues Port City Colombo’s structured programme of regional investor engagement following successful forums in Singapore, the UAE and Oman this year. It offered Maldivian business and investment leaders a first-hand opportunity to learn about Port City Colombo’s investment proposition, Sri Lanka’s flagship 269-hectare master-planned city and Special Economic Zone, and to explore how it can serve as a practical platform for Maldivian businesses and investors seeking to expand their presence across South Asia.
Opening the forum, H.E. Mohamed Rizvi Hassen, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Maldives, set the tone for a morning of substantive dialogue, reflecting on the depth and natural complementarity of the Sri Lanka–Maldives bilateral relationship. He noted that Sri Lanka and the Maldives are among the Indian Ocean’s closest neighbours connected by geography, culture, and longstanding people-to-people ties, and that Port City Colombo represents a tangible and timely opportunity to translate that relationship into a new dimension of economic partnership.
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Abdulla Ghiyas Riyaz, Chairperson of Visit Maldives Corporation and President of the Maldives Association of Travel and Tour Operators (MATATO), called for the next chapter of the Maldives–Sri Lanka relationship to be defined not only by traditional flows of trade, tourism, education, and healthcare, but by investment, innovation, entrepreneurship, and meaningful commercial partnerships.
Sharing his first-hand experience of Port City Colombo, Mr. Riyaz offered a direct endorsement that resonated with the audience. “Port City Colombo deserves our attention because it represents more than a real estate development. It represents an ambition to create a new economic platform within our immediate neighbourhood,” he said. “From Malé to Colombo is a short flight, and there is already a high level of familiarity between our banking systems, our business communities, and our people. I am in Colombo practically every other month, and I have seen how Port City Colombo started and how today, the utilities are connected to the main grid, office spaces occupied, and a duty-free mall is in operation. Every time I visit, there is something different. Investor confidence is built through implementation – and that is exactly what we are seeing. My message today is that every serious investor should explore the opportunities at Port City Colombo.”
The centrepiece of the forum was a detailed presentation by the Port City Colombo team, delivered across three segments covering the broader Port City Colombo development story, the land and real estate investment opportunities available within the SEZ, and the business setup proposition for companies considering establishing operations at Port City Colombo.
Port City Colombo’s investment proposition was well-received in the context of the Maldivian market’s unique characteristics. As a foreign currency-designated SEZ offering 100% foreign ownership, full capital and profit repatriation, transactions in 16 designated currencies, and a single-window regulatory authority under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act 2021, Port City Colombo directly addresses some of the key constraints that Maldivian businesses and investors face when seeking to invest and expand beyond the Maldives. The presence of Sri Lankan banks in the Maldives – including Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, and Hatton National Bank – provides Maldivian investors with a familiar and accessible business gateway into Port City Colombo. Significantly, Commercial Bank of Ceylon has established a branch within the SEZ itself, offering Maldivian businesses a direct banking channel through which to transact and operate within Port City Colombo.
The formal programme concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Ms. Bai Xiaping, Assistant Managing Director of CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd., who spoke to the natural partnership between Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and affirmed that Port City Colombo is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of Maldivian businesses and investors with outward ambitions. Ms. Xiaping closed by reaffirming Port City Colombo’s commitment to deepening its engagement with the Maldives as a priority market in its regional outreach strategy.
The Malé forum reinforces Port City Colombo’s growing regional profile and its commitment to building structured, relationship-led engagement across the Indian Ocean’s key investment communities. Sri Lanka’s status as one of the Maldives’ closest neighbours – combined with Port City Colombo’s purpose-built investment infrastructure, its offshore banking ecosystem, and its world-class live-work-play environment – positions it as a natural destination for Maldivian businesses and investors looking to establish a presence in South Asia.
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H.E. Mohamed Rizvi Hassen, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Maldives
About Port City Colombo
Port City Colombo is a modern, master-planned city development envisioned as a world-class international business and lifestyle hub in South Asia. Spanning 269 hectares along the main East–West maritime route, it is Sri Lanka’s first foreign currency-designated multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and the country’s largest public–private partnership development project.
Governed by the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, the project operates under a dedicated regulatory framework that offers internationally benchmarked standards, strong investor protection, ease of doing business, and competitive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
Designed to attract high-value Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Port City Colombo facilitates sectors including financial services, IT and digital services, global trading, maritime and logistics, professional services, and regional headquarters operations. Upon completion, the estimated US$15 billion development is expected to generate significant employment, knowledge transfer, and long-term economic growth for Sri Lanka.
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