JICA President Akihiko Tanaka visited the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from February 13 to 16. In Sri Lanka, he met with President and Minister of Finance Ranil Wickramasinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, and other key ministers, signed a grant agreement on the “Electricity Supply Stabilization Project Using Renewable Energy in Hospitals,” inspected JICA’s cooperation projects, and gave a special lecture at the University of Colombo on JICA’s Japan Studies He also gave a special lecture on JICA’s project to support the establishment of a course (JICA Chair) at the University of Colombo.
Sri Lanka, located in South Asia, is an important friendly country for Japan, and the two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2022. Sri Lanka, a traditionally pro-Japan country, has fallen into an unprecedented economic crisis, announcing in April 2022 that it would temporarily suspend repayment of its foreign debt, as its economy has stagnated due to a major hit to the tourism industry caused by the terrorist attacks in 2019 and the subsequent spread of the new coronavirus. Although this has had a tremendous impact on people’s lives, the country is currently discussing debt restructuring with its creditors and pursuing various initiatives, including various structural reforms, to rebuild its economy.
President Tanaka met with President and Minister of Finance Wickramasinghe and stated that the Bank would continue to support various reforms by the Sri Lankan government to rebuild the economy, and would consider providing assistance to vulnerable groups that have been severely affected by the economic crisis. President Wickramasinghe said that the Sri Lankan government is making efforts to make steady progress on the IMF program and debt restructuring, and both sides confirmed the importance of early economic restructuring through the steady implementation of various reforms. In addition, President Tanaka expressed his desire to continue contributing to the strengthening of bilateral relations through the exchange of human resources between the two countries.
Meeting with President Wickramasinghe (second from right)
At the beginning of the meeting with Prime Minister Gunawardena, he expressed his gratitude for Japan’s support over the years and said that JICA’s cooperation with rural and regional areas is playing an extremely important role, especially under the economic crisis. In response, President Tanaka expressed his hope that the Sri Lankan government’s various reforms and debt restructuring would continue to progress smoothly.
Meeting with Prime Minister Gunawardena (fourth from right)
They also met with Minister of Electricity and Energy Wijesekara, Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Tondman, and Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation de Silva to discuss issues in each sector and future support policies.
In addition, at the signing ceremony for the grant assistance “Electricity Supply Stabilization Plan Using Renewable Energy in Hospitals,” a gift agreement was signed between President Tanaka and Mr. Siriwaldana, Deputy Minister of Finance. Mr. Siriwaldana stated that this project will be a model case for the introduction of renewable energy in Sri Lanka, considering that the Sri Lankan government is considering further accelerating the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Furthermore, President Tanaka expressed his hope for further development of the health sector, which JICA has been cooperating with for many years, since this project will also contribute to the stable supply of medical services in the target hospitals.
G/A signing ceremony for the “Stable Electricity Supply Plan Using Renewable Energy at Hospitals
In Anuradhapura, about 200 km northeast of the capital Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the participants attended the completion ceremony of the yen loan project “Anuradhapura District Northern Waterworks Improvement Project Phase 1”. President Tanaka congratulated the completion of the project, saying that it was a result of the tireless efforts and cooperation of both Japanese and Sri Lankan officials, who were able to complete the project under difficult circumstances such as the economic crisis. President Wickramasinghe, who attended the ceremony, expressed his appreciation for the Japanese assistance and his hopes that the project would improve the water supply and living standards of the local residents. After the completion ceremony, the participants visited a technical cooperation project, “Livelihood Improvement Project for Small and Medium Scale Farmers through Supply Chain Enhancement,” also in Anuradabra, and received reports from the farmers on how the project has improved their income by cultivating crops that meet market needs and expanded opportunities for women to make decisions about their farms. The farmers reported that the project has improved their income by cultivating crops that meet market needs and expanded opportunities for women to make decisions about farming.
Completion Ceremony for Phase 1 of the Northern Anuradhapura Waterworks Improvement Project
Furthermore, Chancellor Tanaka gave a special JICA Chair Lecture on “International Relations under Complex Crises” at the University of Colombo, which was attended by about 100 people, including professors and students from the University of Colombo. In the panel discussion that followed the special lecture, students commented that the lecture gave them hints to understand the current international situation in which various crises are occurring.
JICA Chair Special Lecture at the University of Colombo
JICA will continue to cooperate with Sri Lanka so that the country can quickly recover from the current severe economic situation and achieve sustainable economic and social development.
© Source JICA
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