Aussie investment in the pipeline

Tuesday, 18 December 2012 00:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Uditha Jayasinghe

Despite concerns on human rights, Australia yesterday put its support firmly behind Sri Lanka to chair the Commonwealth’s highest consultative and policy-making body and agreed to promote investment to boost the post-war economy.

Australian Foreign Minister Robert Carr, who is on a four-day visit to the island, told a joint press conference with his counterpart that the two Ministers also discussed trade and investment, with promises from Australia to look into possible projects. Both parties described Australian businesses as being “eager” about Sri Lanka, but failed to mention specifics.

“We want to build trade and investment. I want standout examples of Australian investment confirmed and secured so that I can tell other businesses that Sri Lanka is open to investment. Our talks have been extensive and I think the cooperation I have received has helped lift relations between the two countries,” Carr noted.

Carr also stressed that they would urge the international community to engage with Sri Lanka on alleged war crimes and other concerns, insisting that it is the “way forward”.

Sri Lanka will chair the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November next year.

Last year Canada called for a boycott of CHOGM by member countries, criticising Sri Lanka for failing to investigate alleged war crimes during the final phase of the three-decade war that ended in 2009.

“Delighted to handover CHOGM and the handling of CHOGM to Sri Lanka. It can be a platform for Sri Lanka to talk about its achievements to the world. Australia will certainly be at CHOGM and we would suggest to Canada that engagement with Sri Lanka is the best way of elevating human rights concerns. We suggest that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report is the basis for such engagement,” he said, referring to a Government-appointed commission that delivered a report on reconciliation efforts late last year.

Carr insisted that “accepting accountability for the events at the end of the war is part of the reconciliation process that is consistent with our goal of seeing a stable and prosperous Sri Lanka”.

He went on to say that the Australian Government would support reconciliation through its aid programme. “I think engagement with the Sri Lankan Government as it manages these difficult tasks and accepts responsibility in implementing the LLRC is the way forward.”

Australia has extended assistance to Sri Lanka in organising CHOGM in November 2013, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said. A group of Sri Lankan officials will be sent to Canberra as part of the expertise transference process.