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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reportedly told Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe that his government was “looking forward to investing in Sri Lanka once again,” as the two met in Tokyo yesterday.
A free trade deal between the two countries was signed in 2018, when Wickremesinghe was prime minister, but was scrapped a year later as Sri Lankan opposition grew.
However, as the pair met yesterday, Wickremesinghe informed the Singaporean Prime Minister that his priority was to bring into effect the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore.
The Sri Lankan president’s office also said Wickremesinghe invited the Singaporean Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka next year when the country celebrates its 75th Independence Anniversary.
In recent months Singapore became a focus for many Sri Lankans, as former president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Colombo. Despite calls from human rights organisations, Tamil activists and even local Singaporeans, Rajapaksa was not arrested and instead allow to fly to Thailand, before eventually returning to Sri Lanka.
Rajapaksa’s visit to Singapore was reportedly supported by the government that he fled, that was led by Wickremesinghe at the time.
