South Asia is interestingly getting international attention as a region that is poised to keep the global economic growth to sustain the momentum and help stabilise the current turmoil. The region is estimated to have GDP of over 2.6 trillion dollars and a population of over 1.7 billion with an expanding middle class consumption and manufacturing.

By Chandeepa Wettasinghe 

The Colombo International Financial Centre (CIFC) will increase Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2-3 percent in its first years of operation, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said at the Colombo International Maritime Conference yesterday.

The Colombo International Maritime Conference (CIMC) which was held for the very first time in 2015, under the guidance of Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, was considered as one of the top maritime conferences held in the Indian subcontinent. Minister Ranatunga initiated the idea in 2015 and got cabinet approval to declare a Sri Lanka maritime week, on the last week of September to commemorate the International Maritime Day and UN observance annually.