Sri Lankan FM seeks more Chinese investment

• Source: Global Times
• [20:45 July 06 2009]
• Comments

http://world.globaltimes.cn/asia-pacific/2009-07/443301.html

By Sun Wei and Zuo Xuan

On a four-day visit to Beijing to discuss furthering bilateral ties, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama courted more investment from China in his country, promoting it as “the ideal location and best destination at the best time.”

Listing the main projects supported by China, Bogollagama told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that China and Sri Lanka enjoy very close economic ties and that Chinese investors can “take advantage of Sri Lanka’s stable environment.”

Emphasizing Sri Lanka’s central location between the Middle East and the Far East, “the intersection of the major trade routes and sea lanes across the Indian Ocean,” and “the most liberalized economy in South Asia,” Bogollagama said, “This is the best time, the ideal location, and the best destination.”
 
Sri Lanka last week granted China an exclusive economic zone in its first post-war effort to attract more investment, considered “an encouraging step” to attract foreign investors.

Investors in Sri Lanka can benefit from its free trade agreements (FTAs) with India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s FTA with India provides access to 4,150 items at zero tariff, while its FTA with Pakistan provides for duty-free access on 206 products from Sri Lanka to Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tiger rebels came to an end when the administration crushed the “invincible” Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May this year after 30 years of bloodshed.

Denying there was any war crime committed by Sri Lankan efforts to counter terrorism, Bogollagama acknowledged military success as “the fundamental requirement” for further development.

The urgent necessity that lies ahead is the resettlement of the estimated 280,000 people displaced in the final government offensive against the rebels.

Bogollagama said the resettlement of the refugees who fled the rebel-controlled areas, was “not a major challenge,” by referring to the experience earned in dealing with the 200,000 families displaced by the 2004 tsunami.

“Today they are free,” said Bogollagama, adding that the Tamils in the North seek “security.”

Having throwing off the shackles of terrorism, civilians now enjoy “huge relief,” he said. People are also empowered by the political process, engaging in wider political discussion.

“Our next target is creating the space for the economic and social development of our country and people,” he said. Addressing the influential Chinese Institute for International Studies, a government-sponsored think-tank in Beijing, Bogollagama Thursday said the government aims to improve living conditions.

On the conflict between the majority Sinhalese, minority Tamil and other ethnic groups, Bogollagama said his government insists on equal opportunities for everybody, since the ethnic groups were all “one people” in an integrated society.

The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the Sri Lankan population, with Tamils, the largest ethnic minority, comprising 18.1% of the population.

On the China-Sri Lanka close relationship causing concern to India, Bogollagama stressed, “The China-Sri Lanka relationship and the India-Sri Lanka relationship are two different relationships that Sri Lanka is concerned with.”

Characterizing the country’s “unique” relationship with India, which stems from the same cultural background, Bogollagama said China “proved its worth as a true friend of Sri Lanka, having stood by us through thick and thin.” The China-Sri Lanka relationship “has stood the test of time.”

He said relations between the three countries were “very positive” and “like two tracks in a railway line running independently”.