US Invests $17 Million to Digitalize Port of Colombo

The United States government announced a US$17 million investment to digitalize operations at the Port of Colombo, in Sri Lanka, through the implementation of a Maritime Single Window System and a Port Community System. The announcement was made by the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Eric Meyer, in coordination with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

According to Port Technology, Meyer presented the funding during a visit to the port on October 16, where he met with SLPA Chairman Parakrama Dissanayake, Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Anura Karunathilaka, and the ministry's secretary, W. W. S. Mangala. The project aims to modernize infrastructure for handling maritime documentation, regulatory procedures, and information exchange between the SLPA, customs, shipping lines, and terminal operators, which could reduce paperwork and speed up cargo clearance.

Meyer explained that more than half a million inbound and outbound US cargo containers pass through the Port of Colombo each year, and that the investment seeks to strengthen supply chains and lower transportation costs for US businesses and consumers, while also opening up commercial opportunities for American technology companies.

The announcement coincided with the decision by Chinese state-owned company China Merchants Port Holdings (CM Ports) to withdraw from a US$350 million logistics hub project at the same port. The SLPA will pay US$22 million to its private partners to terminate the agreement, according to a CM Ports stock exchange filing, which attributed the decision to changes in external circumstances, including regulatory and scheduling disputes. The project, which was set to begin in 2023 and conclude in 2025, envisioned 5 million square feet and 530,000 cubic meters of storage space, creating 1,800 permanent jobs and supporting another 10,000 nationwide.

Colombo is undergoing strong expansion as a transshipment hub in South Asia: its volume grew 12% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, placing it among the 20 largest ports in the world by TEU. The Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) completed two expansion phases that raised its capacity to 3.2 million TEU per year, equivalent to about 25% of the port's target of 13 million TEU by 2028. The United States is also the leading market for Sri Lanka's textile and apparel exports, which reached US$1.95 billion last year, and in July the two countries held the sixth edition of the joint naval exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT).