OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2013. The expressway for Bandaranaike International Airport of Colombo (the Colombo international airport expressway, or “CKE” for short), the capital of Sri Lanka, which was built by MCC Group through contract, was opened to traffic.

At the invitation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, and the local expressway administration, Guo Wenqing, the general manager of MCC Group, attended the opening ceremony of the CKE in Sri Lanka, witnessing the ceremonious moment, who also inspected the work of the personnel of MCC Group in Sri Lanka and made communication with the local governments and enterprises, vigorously promoting the relevant local business of MCC Group.
The grand opening ceremony of CKE was held on the morning of October 27th, which was telecast live by the mainstream media of Sri Lanka.

His excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa delivered a speech through live TV telecast, in which, reviewing the eager anticipation of the people of Sri Lanka for this “the First Road of the Country Gate” over the past nearly 50 years, he expressed thanks to the Chinese government for the support of financing and thought highly of MCC Group for its completion of the high-quality project construction with the state of the art equipment and techniques. Subsequently, the President presented to the delegation of MCC Group the commemorative envelopes and stamps of CKE autographed by him.   

Construction of the CKE, whose principal line and connection line are 25.8 and 4.8 kilometers long, respectively, was started in August, 2009. The expressway is bidirectional and four-lane wide, part of which is six-lane wide and its design speed is 80 to 100 kilometers per hour. The CKE is called “the First Road of the Country Gate” and also the road of friendship between China and Sri Lanka. Construction of the expressway involves 102 box culverts, 39 bridges of various kinds, 11000 cubic meters of reinforced earth retaining wall, 4.6 million cubic meters of sea sand-filled roadbed and 13.7 kilometers of peat soil that needs treating as soft ground.

The expressway reduces the drive from the airport to the downtown of Colombo from 1.5 hours to 20 minutes, as substantially facilitates travel of the local people, alleviates the traffic pressure of the nearby roads and makes significant contribution to the development of the tourism and logistics industries of Sri Lanka.

On the afternoon of October 27th, Wang Zhou, the general manager of the Sri Lanka subsidiary of MCC, and his Excellency Pemasiri, the permanent secretary of the expressway ministry of Sri Lanka, signed the MOU on the NEP-III (the north expressway project) of Sri Lanka, in a bid to expand MCC’s business and sustainable development in the region. Guo Wenqing and other leaders attended the signing ceremony.

Afterwards, the delegation led by Guo Wenqing call at the subsidiary of MCC in Sri Lanka as well as the personnel of the CKE project department, with whom a forum was held. At the forum, Guo Wenqing, on behalf of the Group, paying homage and expressing heart-felt thanks to the personnel working there for the project in Sri Lanka, highly appreciated the subsidiary company and the project department for their achievements in the past over four years of construction of the CKE project.

On the evening of October 27th, MCC held the appreciation party for the opening ceremony of the CEK project. During the party, Guo Wenqing, Ren Faqiang, the charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka, and his Excellency Pemasiri, the permanent secretary of the expressway ministry of Ski Lanka, delivered gracious speeches, respectively. “The CKE project is not only significant for itself as a road project, but also important as a road of friendship between China and Ski Lanka. It benefits the economic and trade cooperation of and promotes the communication of the two peoples,” said Guo Wenqing in his speech.

He also added that MCC Group will reinforce its presence in Ski Lanka by further strengthening its market development, broadening the cooperative fields and enriching the cooperation. The representatives of EIBC, the China-funded enterprise association in Sri Lanka as well as the government and various circles of Sri Lanka also attended the appreciation party. 

On October 28th, the delegation led by Guo Wenqing inspected all of the routes and site of the NEP-III. He emphasized that the NEP is the key for MCC Group’s further sustainable development in Ski Lanka, to which must be attached importance, and the relevant personnel must analyze it scrupulously, vigorously promote its progress, strictly control its risks and work out high-quality technical and commercial schemes so that the commercial contract for it can be signed as soon as possible. 

On the afternoon of October 29th, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, met Guo Wenqing and his delegation at the president’s official residence. Guo Wenqing said that, during his several days of visit, he deeply felt the respect and support of the people of Sri Lanka to the president. As a world-known contractor, MCC hoped to make more contribution to the prosperity of Sri Lanka under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and to achieving the great goals of the president. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the smooth completion of the CKE project fulfilled the long-cherished wish of generations of people of Sri Lanka and that the superb performance of MCC Group won the recognition and compliment among the various circles of Sri Lanka. The president hoped that MCC Group will be more engaged in the development and construction of all fields in Sri Lanka.

During their visit, the delegation led by Guo Wenqing met other friends of a variety of circles of Sri Lanka, such as Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the president of the central bank of Sri Lanka, and Mr. Amerasekera, the chairman of the review committee of the cabinet of Sri Lanka. This fruitful visit has deepened communication between MCC Group and the government as well as the people of various circles of Sri Lanka, improved the visibility of MCC as a brand in the market of Sri Lanka and laid a solid foundation for further close cooperation between the two sides.

Among the delegation led by Guo Wenqing are Luo Shu, the assistant to general manager of MCC Group and chairman of BOD of MCC International Incorporation Limited, Zhang Mengxing, the chairman of BOD of China MCC20 Group Corp., Ltd, Wang Zhou, the general manager of the MCC’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka, and Dong Heping, the manager of the MCC’s CKE project, who, as a whole, witnessed the opening ceremony of the CKE project and a series of inspecting activities.