COLOMBO, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe officially inaugurated "The Mall," a newly built duty-free shopping complex in the Colombo Port City area on Thursday, the President's Media Division (PMD) announced in a statement.

According to the PMD, this is the first urban duty-free shopping mall in the region, featuring a variety of stores, restaurants, and retail outlets.

Prominent international duty-free retailers, including One World, China Duty Free Group, and Flemingo, will operate within the mall, positioning Colombo Port City as a premier shopping destination, the PMD stated.

President Wickremesinghe noted that approximately 100 companies have expressed interest in the Port City, with 74 expected to begin investment activities by the end of the year.

He emphasized that the tourism industry will greatly benefit from this shopping complex and that the development of malls in Port City is a crucial part of the country's strategy to attract tourists and cater to their needs.

Colombo Port City is being developed as a service-oriented special economic zone on 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the ocean. International accounting firms estimated that the Port City could attract 15 billion U.S. dollars in investments, according to the Department of Government Information statement in July. Enditem

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