Bringing the attention of the world to Sri Lanka once again, Port City Colombo was given the title of a Global Best Project by international engineering and construction news magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR) at their 8th Annual Global Best Projects competition. With a record number of submissions entering the competition this year, Port City Colombo was evaluated against a diverse mix of projects from around the world, and takes a prominent place on the list of 30 winning projects featuredfrom 21 countries on 6 continents. Other categories that were evaluated include Residential/Hospitality, Road/Highway, Power/Industrial and so on. This is the first time that a Sri Lankan project has awarded and recognized at the highest level in the field of engineering and construction in the recent years. Due to the prevailing condition, this year’s award ceremony was held as a virtual event on the 17thof September.

Global Best Projects identifies and honors the project teams behind outstanding design and construction efforts of the past year, standing apart with the distinct rule that at least one firm involved in the project must be working outside of its home country. Adhering to the condition that construction had to be complete between January 2019 and April 2020, the submission for the award was made by China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC Ltd.) and was awarded to Colombo Port City Development Project Phase 1, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

WithEngineering News-Record (ENR) being one of the most prominent news networks in the United States of America, judging the contest were a panel of globally renowned judges inclusive of Erleen Hatfield, Hatfield Group; Jon Magnusson, Magnusson Klemencic Associates; Kit Miyamoto, Miyamoto International; Allan Montpellier, PAE; Patrick Natale, Mott MacDonald; Bob Prieto, Strategic Program Management LLC; Hans Van Winkle, Van Winkle Consulting; and Peter Zuk, formerly of Metrolinx. The evaluation categories included safety performance, innovations, challenges, and design and construction quality - with a special emphasis on the diversity of global project teams and their collaboration. The judges also considered how the project benefits the local community and/or the domestic construction industry.
The award comes as a landmark achievement for Port City Colombo following their win of the Silver Award for Master Planning at the Singapore Landscape Architecture Awards 2017, the Gold Award at the Yuan Ye Urban Design Awards 2018, and an honorable mention at the International Federation of Landscape Architects AAPME Awards 2018 in the category of Analysis and Master Planning.

CHEC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Communication Construction Company CCCC which ranked 04th in ENR Top International Contractors list of 2020, with advantages in capital, technology, marketing, talent, and equipment, providing first-rate services to customers around the world and has constructed many landmark projects with international influence. CHEC has won many significant awards, including the "ENR Outstanding Project Award" previously.