Chinese President offers US$ 295 million fresh grant to Sri Lanka for its development programme
Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered Sri Lanka a fresh grant of CNY 2 billion (US$ 295 million) as Beijing tries to expand its influence in the country, the Reuters news agency has reported.
President Maithripala Sirisena, a partner in Beijing’s multi-country Belt and Road infrastructure push, made the announcement on Saturday at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Chinese-funded kidney hospital in Polonnaruwa, 230km from Colombo, the Reuters report notes.
“When the Chinese Ambassador visited my house to fix the date for this ceremony, he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent me another gift,” Sirisena has reportedly told the gathering.
“He has gifted CNY 2 billion to be utilised for any project I wish. I’m going to hand over a proposal to the Chinese Ambassador to build houses in all the electorates in the country,” he has added.
Reuters has stated that it could not immediately contact officials from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka for comment.
OSL take:
The Reuters news report indicates the importance of Sri Lanka to China and the latter’s support towards Sri Lanka’s development agenda. The availability of Chinese funds to carry out development work in Sri Lanka indicates that development programmes being identified by the Sri Lankan government would proceed as planned. Foreign companies exploring for opportunities in Sri Lanka could therefore look at the development programmes that are in the pipeline in order to bid for them.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20180725/Z_8 |