Sri Lanka is poised to unveil its first downtown Duty-Free store in April 2024, situated at the Colombo Port City. The announcement was made by the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka (BRISL) through ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), stating, “Colombo Port City duty-free shop will be opened in April.”
In October 2023, the Sri Lankan government officially gazetted the prerequisites for conducting duty-free retail business operations or establishing duty-free shopping mall operations at the Colombo Port City. As per the published gazette, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Investment Promotion, outlined that an investor must allocate a minimum of USD 5 million to operate a duty-free retail business and possess international-level expertise in duty-free trade operations. For a duty-free shopping mall business, an investor is required to allocate a minimum of USD 7 million.
The establishment of Sri Lanka’s premier downtown Duty-Free store gained momentum in May 2023 when Singapore-owned One World Duty Free and the Colombo Port City formalized two agreements, paving the way for the operation of this groundbreaking retail venture.
This development marks a significant stride in Sri Lanka’s economic landscape and is anticipated to contribute to the growth and vibrancy of the Colombo Port City.
