President appeals to Lankan firms in Bangladesh to stay there

Expressing confidence that Bangladesh will return to normalcy soon, President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday appealed to Sri Lankan companies there not to panic.

“Bangladesh is in turmoil. I don’t want to speak about the politics of Bangladesh, a friendly country, but it had to erupt at some time. While Sheikh Hasina has left, I still remember her because she gave us $ 200 million when we were really in need of money. So I think it’s only fair to say some good word about a person who’s really down at the moment,” President said during his address at the ESG Summit organised by the Daily FT and University of Colombo MBA Alumni Association yesterday. President also welcomed the fact that Khalida Zia had been released from jail. If Sheikh Hasina had done it long ago, she would have still been Prime Minister, he said. 

“Let’s hope there’s tranquillity in Bangladesh. I have no doubt there will be tranquillity. We (Sri Lanka) should not panic. I ask all our people who have invested in Bangladesh, stay there. It’s a good place to be there. Don’t leave Bangladesh. That is my advice. We are the largest investor. We are providing jobs in that country. In the short term, there will be some problems, but then remember we had the same thing in 2022,” the President emphasised.