China has undertaken to construct a large exhibition and convention centre at the Colombo Port City, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced in mid-January, following his state visit to the country.
He added that the facility will be larger than the Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall (BMICH), which was built in the early 1970s – it too was a gift from China.
The convention centre is to be funded by a grant from China, and position Colombo as a South Asian hub for international conferences, business summits, exhibitions and other large-scale events.
It will reportedly have 20,000-30,000 square metres of space for events, an auditorium with a seating capacity of 3,000, a business hotel with 400 rooms and other facilities.