21st October 2001, Volume 8, Issue 14 South Asia's largest logistics centre opens in Sri Lanka With Sri Lanka's highly developed apparel industry and other export oriented industries making inroads into expanding the regional economy, GTL Global Park, the first and largest logistics center in South Asia, opened its doors in Seeduwa on October 18. Inaugurated by Guests of Honour British Member of Parliament, Nirjan Deva Adittiya, British High Commissioner, Linda Duffield and Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickre- masinghe, this BOI approved US $9 million joint venture between WT Air Cargo of UK and Roton Vander Freighting of Sri Lanka, will house 365,000 square feet of warehousing space on a 13 acre site. "Proud to be a part of a pioneering event such as this," Nirjan Deva Additiya said that Sri Lanka is definitely on her way to becoming a very strong economic force in the region. "With visions such as GTL Global Park, it is more than apparent that European and US trading partners will continue the excellent working relationship that have ensued in the past." He added that the good business relationship with UK too will no doubt be strengthened, with Sri Lanka's focus on developing the service sector in order to aid exporting countries. CEO of GTL, Ravi Karunanayake said that having been in the freight and logistics industry for many decades, Roton Vander Freighting is proud to place Sri Lanka on the map as one of the best and largest logistics centers in South Asia. "When we heard that the UK required a logistics warehouse in Sri Lanka, we were among 25 other bidders who had tied up with foreign partners. After an evaluation of about 4-5 months, the offer made by Roton Vander and WT Air Cargo was shortlisted and ultimately, we clinched the award. We are determined to work towards an innovative approach to the fast changing phenomena of global sourcing. Our mission is to be the pivoting force for logistics solutions locally and globally, providing end-to-end solutions and ensuring superior service with total customer satisfaction." Managing Director, Neil McGlynn, Vice-President, Julian Wheeler and Director, GTL, Srinivas Venkatesh, all based in the UK, are of the view that the facilities provided by GTL Global Park would be an appealing factor for other countries too to begin looking towards using Sri Lanka as a possible logistics solutions provider. "With all other countries in this region being more or less export oriented, it makes sense for them to avail themselves of a comprehensive logistics solutions package such as this, which ensures that their product gets to the retailer on time, every time." GTL Global Park, constructed by Industrial and Commercial Development (Pvt) Limited (ICDL) is equipped to surpass internationally recognised standards and provides a 'one stop shop' logistics solutions concept under a single canopy. ICDL taken on as GTL's strategic partner in this project, constructed an average of 35,000 square feet of space per month, within a ten month timeframe, which though taken on as a challenge by ICDL, was nevertheless developed with total building solutions to maximise the land utilisation, ensuring that the workflow was planned to service multi-user needs on a 24 hour basis.