Cabraal insists national interest first and foremost when entering agreements

Friday, 9 October 2020 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Says easy to enter into agreements, but not very easy to get out of them

State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprises Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Parliament yesterday, the Government would place national interest first and foremost when entering

State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal

into any agreements.

“What are our principals to follow when entering into agreements? First and foremost, they must be in the national interest and they must be favourable to the country,” Cabraal said winding up the adjournment debate on ‘International Agreements’.

The State Minister said it is easy to enter into agreements, but it is not very easy to get out of them and hence it is necessary to be cautious and study such agreements carefully.

Cabraal also responded to the reference of his involvement with the MCC by SJP MP Harsha De Silva, saying that it was in his capacity as the Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation.

“At that time, we were merely looking at the overall scope of the agreement. We were not looking at conditions. We only wanted to see what items would constitute the agreement and we were looking at roads, railroads, SMEs and that was all there was to it. We never went beyond that because there were certain other issues that cropped up and we did not go through with it,” the State Minister added.

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