Sajith raises concerns over possible HSBC Global Service Centre exit from Sri Lanka
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Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has voiced concern over reports that HSBC could transfer its Global Service Centre operations from Sri Lanka to the Philippines. Daily Mirror and Newswire present this as a potential move; Tamilmirror’s headline states that the service centre is leaving and flags 3,500 jobs as endangered.
In a post on X, Premadasa said he had received information that HSBC might exit Sri Lanka by December 2027. He put the possible impact at 3,000 direct positions and 500 indirect ones. He said he hoped the report was inaccurate and warned that a confirmed departure would affect the national economy.
Premadasa questioned Sri Lanka’s ability to attract investment, saying the country should be drawing sizeable foreign direct investment rather than losing major overseas investors. Newswire contextualised his comments with the withdrawal of China Merchants Port Holdings from its proposed US$392 million South Asia Commercial and Logistics Hub at Colombo Port.
Newswire says the operator reported ending the project in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on October 15, 2026. The plan was for a five-storey logistics facility under a 50-year build-and-operate agreement before transfer. China Merchants Port’s subsidiary, Fortune Centre Group Limited, held 70%; the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Access Engineering PLC each held 15%. The filing attributed the cancellation to altered external conditions, difficulties with implementation and commercial factors. The Ports Authority agreed to pay the project company US$21.905 million in a settlement. The project had obtained Strategic Development Project status in December 2023 and tax concessions; Newswire’s account does not specify the concessions before its text ends.
Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.