Mustafa Centre, also known as Mustafa Singapore is one of the biggest shopping centres in Asia and its presence in Sri Lanka would be a major plus point to woo more foreign investors.
A large number of people from all over the country have visited Singapore only for shopping at the Mustafa Shopping Complex and in the future this scenario is likely to be repeated in Sri Lanka, a BOI official said. One of the biggest plus points of Mustafa is that it is open 24 hours.
The mixed development project includes a 975 room star class hotel, 400 service apartments and a 1000 vehicle car park, with a total floor area of 142,125 square meters.
A public restaurant too would be opened under this project.
“Sri Lanka has emerged as a major tourist destination and this was one of the main reasons for us to invest in Sri Lanka”, Mustafa Shopping Centre founder chairman Mustaq Ahamad said.
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said with this type of investment traditional and cottage industries will benefit.
The government has offered special incentives for the tourism industry from the budget.
The Board of Investment chairman and director general M.M.C Ferdinando and founder chairman of Mustafa’s PTE Ltd Mustaq Ahamed signed an agreement to construct this hotel and shopping complex in Sri Lanka. Both locals and foreigners would be the target market of the Mustafa’s Hotel and Shopping Complex.
Mustafa offers many services such as foreign exchange, VISA processing, travels booking, Gold Mart and all kinds of shopping items available under one roof. The BoI also has secured US $ 413 million in the first six months of this year which is as 98 percent increase.
This included 92 projects. The target for 2011 was US $ one billion.http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/12/13/bus01.asp