Hambantota Port links up with Ranong Port in Thailand

Colombo (News 1st): China managed Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka has inked a deal with Thailand’s Ranong port with a view to developing shipping routes in the region. The Company said a joint working group will be established to develop coastal shipping in the Bay of Bengal between the two ports. Ranong Port recently signed an agreement with India’s Krishnapatnam port. Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) says it will support Thailand’s policy of boosting trade with India and Sri Lanka under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Thailand is currently following a policy to boost trade with India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka under the framework of BIMSTEC. Hambantota is already transshipping Indian cars to Africa and the elsewhere and Thailand is also a key auto manufacturing hub. HIPG says there is also potential for an industrial zone by the side of the Hambantota port. China has also revived the idea of building a canal across Thailand, which will reduce shipping times to China and Japan, and help bypass a chokepoint of the Malacca Straits.