The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s Senior Vice President for South Asia Imoto Sachiko, has told State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe that JICA eagerly awaits to resume the Japan funded development projects in Sri Lanka.
Semasinghe in a tweet said that JICA’s commitment to support Sri Lanka’s economic recovery was reiterated by JICA’s Senior Vice President’s comments.
State Minister Shehan Semasinghe who led a delegation to the 2023 spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington last week said it was a very significant week for Sri Lanka’s efforts to emerge from the economic crisis.
Engaged with global leaders to discuss Sri Lanka’s priorities and explored opportunities for collaboration to further the progress we have made towards economic recovery and sustainability, he said.
Semasinghe also said that Sri Lanka will soon start discussions with its creditors on a final debt restructuring process.
Explaining the outcomes of his recent meetings in addition to the meeting with the JICA official, Semasinghe said he met the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Jin Liqun and discussed how AIIB and Sri Lanka could work together closely in financing sustainable infrastructure development.
Jin Liqun had assured that AIIB will support Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis.
Semasinghe had also met William Roos, Co-Chair of the Paris Club Secretariat and discussed the progress made thus far on the debt restructuring process, and the important role played by the Paris Club in this process.
Semasinghe said he also had a very constructive meeting with Kentaro Ogata, Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs Japan, where he recalled the long history of friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan.
The Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs of Japan had reaffirmed Japan’s priority to assist Sri Lanka in the debt negotiation process.
Meanwhile identifying the debt restructuring negotiation process on Sri Lanka initiated by Japan jointly with India and France at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings last Thursday as a very positive effort Semasinghe said all bilateral creditors were extended an open invitation to join the forum in order to finalize the debt treatment program as early as possible. India, Japan and France announced a common platform for talks among creditors to address the debt restructuring programme of Sri Lanka on Thursday.
The representatives of the three creditor countries, held a press briefing on the margins of the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington to announce the above.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Finance and Emmanuel Moulin, Director General of the Treasury of France, launched the event at the IMF Headquarters in Washington, DC.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe as Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance joined via online and State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe and Senior Management Staff of IMF participated in person.
“The purpose of the event was to demonstrate the multilateral cooperation regarding the debt restructuring process among the creditors, together with Sri Lanka,” said an official statement.
Finance Minister Sitharaman expressed India’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka in dealing with its current economic crisis. She emphasised that collaboration among creditors was important to ensure transparency and equality in the debt restructuring discussions, agency reports said.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki described the launch of the common platform as a historical development. “To be able to launch this negotiation process gathering, such a broad-based group of creditors, is a historical outcome,” he told reporters at the news conference.
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