Japanese delegation discusses resuming delayed development projects in Sri Lanka
Daily FT: Minister of State in the Cabinet Office of Japan Fujimaru Satoshi, and former Minister of State for Regional Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Yamamoto Kozo called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat recently.
During the meeting, they discussed the stalled development projects in Sri Lanka, which were previously supported by the Japanese Government.
The parties agreed to restart these projects once the credit optimization process in Sri Lanka is completed. Additionally, they decided to involve officials from the Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka in conducting an investigation related to these projects.
The Japanese delegation, including Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Mizukoshi Hideaki, President’s Senior Advisor on National Security and Chief of Staff SagalaRatnayaka and President’s Senior Adviser on Economic Affairs Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga attended the discussions.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka and Japan enjoy strong bilateral and trade ties. Japan is also one of Sri Lanka’s key investment partners with many large-scale projects in the country being funded by Japan. Several more large-scale projects are still in the pipeline awaiting Sri Lanka’s finalization of the debt restructuring programmed. Japan has already indicated its willingness to explore the resumption of several key development projects following the debt restructuring programmed. The recent visit to Japan by Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe had also helped boost ties between the two countries. Given the growing bilateral tied between the two countries, Japanese businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka. Local businesses could also look at forming partnerships or joint ventures with Japanese businesses in order to expand operations.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20230822/Z_2 |