President Ranil discusses bilateral ties with Vietnam’s Deputy PM
May 26, 2023 09:59 am
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is on an official visit to Japan, has held a cordial discussion with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang.
The discussion focused on strengthening bilateral relations and developing stronger cultural ties, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD).
As part of his ongoing visit, the Sri Lankan president also called on Japan’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Taro Kono.
During this meeting, Wickremesinghe outlined the Sri Lankan government’s efforts in digitization and discussed measures to boost cooperation between the two countries in the digital transformation programs.
Wickremesinghe’s visit to Japan, from May 24-27- also included bilateral talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, former Prime Ministers Yasuo Fukuda and Yoshihide Suga and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki.
The focus of these discussions fell on the island nation’s debt restructuring negotiations and the implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
The Sri Lankan president expressed confidence in concluding the newly-launched debt restructuring talks, which he said have made remarkable headway, by September or November at the latest.
Wickremesinghe also delivered an address at the Nikkei Forum on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, during which he highlighted Asia’s significance as the world’s largest economy, home to 60% of the global population and a significant contribution to global growth.
He underscored the region’s potential for continued growth, supported by China’s recovery, India’s domestic demand, and the contributions of advanced economies like Japan and South Korea.
President Wickremesinghe’s meeting comes a month after Japan, India and France jointly unveiled a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to co-ordinate debt restructuring.
The island nation defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in its history in April last year as the worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 crushed its economy.
(Meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang)
(Meeting with Japanese Minister of Digital Transformation, Taro Kono)
