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Tuesday, 11 October 2016 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
JICA Vice President Hidetoshi Irigaki and Treasury Deputy Secretary Chandra Ekanayake signing the loan yesterday
The Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement for JPY 10,000 million, equivalent to approximately Rs. 14.45 billion, the organisation said yesterday.
The signing of the loan agreement took place between Deputy Secretary of the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance Chandra Ekanayake and JICA Vice President Hidetoshi Irigaki at the Finance Ministry.
The Development Policy Loan (Private Sector Development, Governance Improvement and Fiscal Consolidation), which is co-financed by the World Bank, aims to provide support to the policy and institutional reforms of the Sri Lankan Government with a focus on reducing obstacles to private sector competitiveness, establishing more transparent and well-managed public institutions and improving the Government’s fiscal sustainability. This is expected to further strengthen economic and industrial competitiveness and thereby contribute to Sri Lanka’s sustainable economic growth.
“The Government of Sri Lanka has prioritised a package of policy and institutional reforms including efforts to repeal excessive tax incentives on the revenue front, and reducing expenditure by improving transparency and efficiency in the budget process on the expenditure front. Efforts also include measures to attract foreign direct investments for the private sector to reach its full potential,” JICA said in a press release.
The Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, will be the ministry responsible for the overall implementation of this program in cooperation with the related agencies, including the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media, the Auditor General’s Department, the Board of Investment and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
JICA’s loan is provided under concessional terms with an annual interest rate of 1.4% and a 25-year repayment period.
JICA will continue to provide support for the sustainable economic growth of Sri Lanka by utilising technical cooperation, concessional loans and grants.
In addition, JICA also provided 23,137 Yen for the Anuradhapura North Water Supply Project (Phase 2) to improve the water supply facilities and switch the water source from groundwater to safe surface water, improving the access of area residents to safe drinking water.
The Phase 2 of this project is to supplement and broaden the project implementation area of the Phase 1, which is now ongoing with the loan amounting to Japanese Yen 5,166 million extended in March 2013.
Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka yesterday pledged swift development for Kandy and its suburbs under the new Kandy urban development program after signing the bilateral ‘Record of Discussion’ for the project.
The agreement was signed by Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development Secretary Nihal Rupasinghe and Urban Development Authority (UDA) Chairman Dr. Jagath Munasinghe in the presence of Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Champika Ranawaka for the Sri Lankan side and a senior representative of the Sri Lankan office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Toru Kobayakawa, for the Japanese side.
“Sporadic development has lowered the standard of life for those in Kandy. Currently, Kandy has the highest air pollution and congestion. But we aim to change all that. This city will become a multipurpose transport hub,” Ranwaka said at the event.
Ranawaka also pointed out that Kandy would undergo a significant social and economic change once the proposed Colombo-Kandy highway was completed and it was important to protect historic landmarks as well as the way of life of the Kandyan people.
The UDA and JICA are to commence a technical cooperation project to formulate the urban development vision and detailed development plans aimed towards the objective of enhancing the value and attractiveness of Kandy as a historic and touristic city, and realising its unique socioeconomic potential while preserving its ancient heritage which is sacred to Buddhists around the world.
Through the project, JICA will support the UDA to prepare the urban development vision for the Kandy metropolitan area, with detailed urban plans including urban design guidelines and regulations to protect and sustain the heritage city area and recommend sustainable systems and a strategic investment proposal to implement the development plans.
“Kandy has a unique heritage and history which people from around the world gather to Sri Lanka to experience. More importantly, Kandy is a city very close to the heart of Sri Lankan people, for its significance to Buddhists as well as other religions, and its importance in history as the last ancient kingdom. We look forward to sharing the Japanese experiences and lessons in developing such ancient cities in Japan, to help develop the true potential of Kandy. The key to successful development planning is mutual consultation and consensus-building with the many stakeholders, and we will make every effort to support the UDA to do so in implementing the project,” JICA Sri Lanka Office Chief Representative Kiyoshi Amada said.
JICA is also financing the ongoing Kandy City Waste Water Management Project.
