Editing Colombo (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Lotus Tower Floating Market-Colombo Srilanka-Andres Larin.jpg|left|thumb|Colombo City is the hub of Sri Lanka's economic activity]]
The great majority of Sri Lankan corporations have their head offices in Colombo including [[Aitken Spence]], [[Ceylinco Consolidated|Ceylinco Corporation]], Stassen group of companies, [[John Keells Holdings]], [[Cargills (Ceylon)|Cargills]], Hemas Holdings, SenzMate and Akbar Brothers. Some of the industries include chemicals, textiles, glass, cement, leather goods, furniture and jewellery. In the city centre is the [[World Trade Center Colombo|World Trade Centre]]. The 40-story [[Twin Tower]] complex is the centre of important commercial establishments, in the Fort district, the city's nerve centre. Right outside the Fort area is Pettah which is derived from the Sinhala word ''pita'' which means 'out' or 'outside'.<ref name=onlineColombo>{{cite web|title=Colombo Economy|url=http://dhksy.blogspot.com/2009/01/colombo-economy.html|access-date=29 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024124900/http://dhksy.blogspot.com/2009/01/colombo-economy.html|archive-date=24 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:LK-Colombo-altes-parlament.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Old Parliament Building, Colombo|Old Parliament Building]], [[Bank of Ceylon]] building and [[World Trade Center Colombo|WTC twin towers]] in the Colombo financial district of [[Fort (Colombo)|Fort]]]]
The Colombo Metropolitan area has a GDP (PPP) of $122&nbsp;billion or 40% of the GDP, making it the most important aspect of the Sri Lankan economy. {{Citation needed|date=September 2018|reason=GDP figure is unsourced. The source provided at end of the sentence (Sri Lankan Central Banks' communiqué) is outdated and does not mention the figure presented on Wikipedia, it is therefore inadequate. The latest figure I could find was 4697 Bn LKR ( approx 27Bn USD) for 2016, far from the 48Bn figure referenced by Wikipedia. https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/sites/default/files/press_20171130_Provincial_GDP_2016_e.pdf}}The per capita income of the Colombo Metro area stood at US$8623 and purchasing power per capita of $25,117, making it one of the most prosperous regions in South Asia.<ref name="cbsl.gov.lk">{{cite web|work=[[Central Bank of Sri Lanka|CBSL]]|date=10 July 2011|url=http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/latest_news/press_20110712e.pdf|title=Press release 20010712|access-date=2 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722150529/http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/latest_news/press_20110712e.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Colombo Metropolitan (CM) area is the most important industrial, commercial and administrative centre in Sri Lanka. A major share of the country's export-oriented manufacturing takes place in the CM area, which is the engine of growth for Sri Lanka.

[[File:Colombo - Galle Face.jpg|thumb|left|[[Galle Face Green]], where many major events take place, is a favourite location for many. It is in close proximity to many of the major hotels. Formerly, it was the site of the city's racecourse, golf course and the cricket field]] The Western province contributes less than 40% to the GDP and about 80% of industrial value additions although it accounts for only 5.7% of the country's geographic area and 25% of the national population. Given its importance as the primary international gateway for Sri Lanka and as the main economic driver of the country, the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has launched an ambitious program to transform Colombo and its area into a metropolis of international standards. Bottlenecks are preventing the Colombo metropolitan area from realizing its full economic potential. To facilitate the transformation of Colombo, the government has to address these bottlenecks which have for long been obstructing economic and physical urban regeneration.<ref name=ES>{{cite web|title=Executive Summary The Colombo Metropolitan (CM) area |url=http://www.defence.lk/news/pdf/EA_ES_english.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Defence & Urban Development |access-date=29 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810034557/http://www.defence.lk/news/pdf/EA_ES_english.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2012 }}</ref>

Pettah is more crowded than the Fort area. Pettah's roads are always packed and [[Sidewalk|pavements]] are full of small stalls selling items from delicious [[Sharbat (beverage)|sharbat]] to [[shirt]]s. Main Street consists mostly of clothes shops and the crossroads, which are known as Cross-Streets where each of the five streets specialises in a specific business. For example, First Cross Street is mostly [[electronics|electronic]] goods shops, the Second [[cellular phones]] and fancy goods. Most of these businesses are dominated by Muslim traders. At the end of Main Street further away from Fort is Sea Street – Sri Lanka's gold market – dominated by Tamil interests. This mile-long street is full of jewellery shops,<ref name=onlineColombo /> including the former head office of [[SriLankan Airlines]].<ref>"World Airline Directory." Also ranked of the best land in the world of WWNEconomy ''[[Flight International]]''. 14–20 March 1990 [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200709.html?search= "Airlift International" 57] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809070956/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200709.html?search= |date=2011-08-09 }}</ref>