Sri Lanka needs a stable and powerful government for development: President
Monday, 16 September 2013 00:20
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Sri Lanka needs a stable and powerful government with the support of the people for the country’s development and the Western countries criticise Sri Lanka without a “clear understanding,” Mahinda Rajapaksa has said.
President Rajapaksa said the development of a country requires a stable government which is a powerful support to a country and a powerful government with full support by the people is the most important factor for the government to push forward.
“It’s easy for Western countries to talk, to criticise. I’m sorry to say that the Western countries criticise us without having a clear understanding,” the President said in an interview to China’s State television CCTV.
Explaining how much Chinese investment means to the country, the President said bilateral relations have extended to educational, social, and cultural and all kinds of aspects and therefore, a high level of strategic cooperative partnership has been formed.
During President Rajapaksa’s State visit to China in May this year, the two countries upgraded relations to a strategic cooperative partnership.
After the three-decade long armed conflict ended in May 2009, Sri Lanka focused on reconstructing the infrastructure and other facilities destroyed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists in the north and constructing strategic new infrastructure including the coal power plants, harbour and the international airport in Hambantota in the deep south.
Chinese investment there mainly focused on railway, power plant and port construction.
“For the port construction, we want a free port. As for the tourism, we need a lot of Chinese investment. And we are satisfied with the investment from China so far,” the President, speaking especially about Sri Lanka’s infrastructure construction, said during the interview.
During the President’s visit to Beijing in May 2013, China and Sri Lanka signed agreements on a three-stage economic cooperation plan. Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao says this will boost economic and trade cooperation. “In the first stage, we should support Sri Lanka’s infrastructure construction. In the second stage, we can support the pillar industries in the national economy. In the third stage, we can help Sri Lanka advance towards the world. For now, we are still at the first stage,” the Chinese Ambassador said.
