President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently emphasized Asia’s importance as the world’s largest economy, the home to 60% of the world’s population, and a significant contributor to global growth in his speech to the Nikkei Forum on the Future of Asia in Tokyo.
He stressed the potential for the region to have sustained growth, which is made possible by the resurgence of China, domestic demand in India, and the contributions of advanced countries like Japan and South Korea.
In his speech at the Nikkei Forum in Tokyo, President Wickremesinghe also emphasized three crucial issues that Asia is currently experiencing, according to the President’s Media Division.
He underlined the significance of respecting the various political systems and human rights definitions across Asian countries and mentioned climate change, trade integration, and democratic ideals and human rights as major issues.
President Wickremesinghe stressed that Asia has emerged as the world’s most active economic region and that its economy is now comparable in scale to those of Europe and North America.
In his speech, he also made a point of the serious concerns that climate change poses to Asia, noting that rising temperatures in the area are having an effect on people’s quality of life, their access to food, and their ability to export goods.
In his speech, President Wickremesinghe emphasized the risks that Asian nations face, the importance of maintaining the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, and the rejection of economic coercion and decoupling. He also focused on trade integration and debt sustainability.
He underscored the fact that Asian nations do not want to be forced to choose between powerful nations, highlighted the economic ties between China and the ASEAN nations, and voiced opposition to Asia’s division.
President Wickremesinghe urged open-ended discussions with Japan, China, India, and ASEAN, stressing that they are essential for the development of an Asian region that is peaceful and prosperous. He commended Japan’s cooperative attitude.
