China's Sinopec Group has assured Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath that construction of the new oil refinery at Hambantota without delay. The assurance came during a meeting held between the Minister and a visiting 10-member delegation of the company led by Sinopec's Vice Chairman Lv Lianggong today (15).
The USD 3.7 billion investment project is expected to produce up to 200, 000 barrels per day once completed. The Chinese delegation met the minister to review the progress of the project and discuss unresolved issues related to it, the minister's office said in a statement.
The statement said that Mr. Lianggong expressed his appreciation to Minister Herath for the support provided by the Minister in resolving a large number of the problems that had existed for years regarding the commencement of this project. He said that this had enabled the agreement on the refinery project to be signed in January. In addition, Mr. Liangong presented several other issues affecting the start of the project to the Foreign Minister. He further requested Minister Herath to urgently intervene to solve those problems, as this is a project important for both countries.
Minister Herath agreed to urgently intervene to resolve the existing problems in order to fast-track the implementation of the project, owing to the positive impact of foreign investment on Sri Lanka and its economy. Accordingly, both parties agreed to start the project without delay, the minister's office stressed.
The delegation was also scheduled to hold several discussions today with the Ministry of Energy, the Board of Investment (BOI), and other related institutions.
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