While expressing gratitude to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its support of Sri Lanka’s agriculture, rural small and medium sectors, and other development projects, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena urged the regional funding organisation to launch new initiatives in sectors like renewable energy, digitalization, and public transport systems, particularly the railways.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that he remarked this on Tuesday (Oct. 03), when ADB Country Director Takafumi Kadono visited him at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo.
PM Gunawardena praised the ADB for providing assistance to Sri Lanka in order to stabilise the country’s economy following an extraordinary financial crisis.
The Sri Lankan prime minister was informed by Mr. Takafumi Kadono on the short- and long-term infrastructure and economic development projects of the ADB. The projects that are still in progress focus on things like enhancing access to public services, supporting private sector development, and deepening inclusion, social protection, equitable access, health, the environment, and agricultural modernization.
The Prime Minister’s suggestions for new projects could be taken into consideration, he said, as the ADB Governing Board members prepare to travel to Sri Lanka to examine the status of ongoing projects and learn about potential future project areas.
Anura Dissanayake, the secretary to the prime minister, and Utsav Kumar, the deputy country director of the ADB, also took part in the debate.
