COLOMBO
On 29 July 2023, Sri Lanka invited Japan to recommence investment in projects including roads, power, and ports as the Japanese foreign minister concluded the first high-level visit to Sri Lanka after four years. According to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Japan was seeking Japanese investment in sectors such as power, green and digital economies infrastructure, as well as dedicated investment zones.
Sri Lanka is drowned in crisis for the past few years now. The nation is working to rearrange its massive debt to continue a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund after its terrible financial crisis in more than seven decades sparked off default and the resignation of its president.
Sabry stated in a press conference, “We are confident that Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, which has made a promising start, and future growth prospects will provide us with greater opportunities to enhance the Japan-Sri Lanka relationship.”
Sabry was joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is currently in Colombo as part of a multi-country diplomatic tour. This tour will include South Africa, India, Uganda, Maldives, and Ethiopia.
Hayashi said, “I conveyed my expectations for further progress in the debt restructuring process and stressed the importance of a transparent and comparable debt restructuring that involves all creditor countries.”