Govt. policy is to bring in foreign investment without harming interests of country: President

Friday, 11 August 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday said the policy of the present Government is to bring in foreign investment in a way which will not harm the country’s sovereignty.

The President added that when entering into agreements with a foreign country or a company regarding investments, a special clause will be included stating that land ownership in any way is not assigned to anyone and only the necessities of a particular investment will be fulfilled.

He made these remarks while addressing an intellectual dialogue held at the BMICH to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka.

President Sirisena added that when developing as a country, the assistance of economically powerful nations in the world was needed and the present Government has been able to get the assistance of all these countries through a friendly and cordial foreign policy.

“The present Government was able to reduce many negative impacts on Sri Lanka internationally during the past two and a half years,” the President said adding that the fruitful consequences of the steps taken by the Government to increase foreign exchange reserves and reduce the foreign debt burden can be seen.

He also said that today we could celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka in a content state as a result of the solid foundation laid for the relations between the two countries during the past two and a half years and further said that the present Government was committed to further strengthening those relations.

During this event, the President presented awards to the winners of the competitions held to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka.

The President of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association Amaradasa Gunawardena presented a commemorative book issued to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka to the President.

Senior Media Personality Edwin Ariyadasa, Nihal Rodrigo and Bernard Gunathilaka also addressed the intellectual dialogue.

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang and many others participated in this event.