Economic strategies between Sri Lanka and China finalised -PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan delegation
concluded their three-day visit to China yesterday, after signing seven
agreements.
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| Chinese Prime Minister Li
Keqiang welcomes the Sri Lankan Premier. |
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The visiting Premier
accorded a Guard of Honour at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing.
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The seven agreements signed by the two countries are; MoU on Trade
and Investments, technical cooperation agreement, MoU between the
Chinese Development Bank and Central Bank Sri Lanka, second phase of the
Southern Highway, extradition treaty, a kidney mobile screening unit and
an MoU between the Natural Science Foundation of China and National
Science Foundation of Sri Lanka.
China has also offered a grant of 500 million Yuan to Sri Lanka as a
gesture of friendship and assurance that China will continue to extend
their support to Sri Lanka's investment zones and the industrialisation
projects. "We have finalised comprehensive economic strategies between
Sri Lanka and China for the next two decades," Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe said.
Addressing journalists at the China World Hotel in Beijing, he said
"This visit follows President of the People's Republic of China Xi
Jinping visit in 2014 and that of President Maithripala Sirisena in
2015."
Economic co-operation
"There are a few details to be finalised such as the Free Trade
Agreement and other important MoUs. These agreements would be finalised
when the Chinese Prime Minister visits Sri Lanka next year at our
invitation," he said.
"This has now set the foundation for economic co-operation between
our two countries, I would like to call this the second Rubber-Rice
pact. The original was signed between Sri Lanka and the People's
Republic of China in 1952. It was one of the earliest agreements that
the People's Republic of China entered into with another country.
Deepening ties
In 1977, Sri Lanka embarked on the second round of economic reforms
and a year later China also made a successful bid to reform its economy
under the then President of the People's Republic of China.
Now we have come to a stage, where the global economic crisis has
changed the economic order of the world where emerging markets and
developing countries show more dissidence than expected.
At present both our countries are moving towards deepening ties and
integrating further into the global economy and we find synergies in the
'One belt, one road' policy of the President of the People's Republic of
China and we are making Sri Lanka the hub of the Indian Ocean under the
stewardship of President Sirisena.
What is important to recall is that when the whole world was plunged
into an economic crisis in the recent past, China emerged as a resilient
force to stabilise the global economy," he said.
"Our task now is to build our economy and we have come up with a
comprehensive plan which fits in with that of the 'One belt, one road'
policy of China, the Singaporean concept and the 'Made in India policy
of India'," he said.
"In this context, we are moving to becoming the financial, economic
and logistics hub of the Indian Ocean.
Our discussions with President Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister and
others of the government were successful.
Our primary focus was on the economy but it would expand to other
areas as well such as cultural, people-to-people and a whole range of
other areas,' he said.
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