Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe reassured parliament on Friday that German car giant Volkswagen had not suspended its work in establishing a car plant in Kuliyapitiya, after concerns were raised about a delay in starting the construction. The government information department quoted Mr Wickremesinghe as saying that the factory will commence operations within 2 years. “Volkswagen investment came to the country before 2015,” the prime minister is reported to have said. “The company has made an investment of 265 million US Dollars and it will create around 200 job opportunities,” Minister of Development strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickema said to parliament.
Sri Lanka's budget for 2016 was passed in parliament on Friday with a majority of 109 votes, with 160 votes in favour and 51 votes against it while 13 members were absent. The budget passed after major changes were made by the government, with Finance Minister Rai Karunanayake warning parliament that the changes to the budget proposals would cost the treasury Rs35,000 million more, including the increase in a state sector employee’s basic salary by Rs2,500 from January next year. See more on the budget here .
Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit is a key concern for 2015 and the medium term said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in their annual report on Sri Lanka. “The fiscal situation constitutes Sri Lanka’s single biggest macro financial vulnerability and should be addressed expeditiously,” warned the IMF in its April 2015 report which was released in December. The 67 page report added that there were further concerns that Sri Lanka’s GDP had itself been bloated and that country’s actual revenue was much higher than it claimed.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation has approved Sri Lanka as eligible for the body's "threshold" programme, which will release around $30mn worth of funding, providing assistance to the government's efforts to enact reforms in areas which constrict economic growth. "Sri Lanka has embarked on a remarkable effort over the past year to reinvigorate its democratic institutions, improve governance, and restore protection of human rights," a statement by the MCC said. The MCC, an independent US government agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. allocates budgets depending on how countries score on specific indicators. According to the MCC website, threshold programmes "assist countries to become compact eligible by supporting their efforts to implement key policy and institutional reforms and thereby demonstrate their commitment to MCC’s eligibility criteria" and if implemented successfully will "reduce constraints to faster economic growth and provide MCC critical information about a candidate country’s political will and capacity to undertake the types of reforms that would have the greatest impact in compacts".
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinge said relations with the British government remained on a "sound footing", despite the absence of a designated ambassador in London. Responding to a question in parliament about the unfilled consular position, the prime minister said the officer leading the mission in London is able to speak directly to Prime Minister David Cameron, the Daily Mirror reported. Meanwhile, Deputy British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Laura Davies, is reported to have said that the UK is leading international efforts to root out corruption. Ms Davies said the UK...
The Sri Lankan government will establish a secretariat to coordinate activities of various players engaged in reconciliation. The secretariat is expected to follow up progress on the implementation of recommendations made by various panels such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and the Office of The High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as well as coordinating with the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. The latest secretariat is to also be tasked with developing plans with recently set up institutions such as Office on Missing Persons, the Truth Reconciliation and...
Commenting on the recent visit of the US Under Secretary of State for political affairs, Thomas Shannon’s visit to Sri Lanka, Talyor DIbbert stressed concern on the US State Department ‘s willingness to uphold pressure for accountability in Sri Lanka. Full opinion piece published in The Diplomat reproduced below. There was another high-level U.S. visit to Sri Lanka this week. State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon visited the island nation from December 14-16. The highlight of his trip seems to have been the formal announcement that the first “U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue” will be held in Washington this February. The dialogue will focus on four broad areas: governance, development cooperation, and people-to-people ties; both economic and security cooperation; and global and regional affairs.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon concluded his visit to Sri Lanka announcing a US Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue to take place in February 2016 in Washington DC. Speaking during a joint press brief with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera Ambassador Shannon said, “The United States will assist reconciliation and broader transitional efforts at the homeland level, community label, and national levels. Sri Lanka’s contribution to the development of regional consciousness one that promotes the values of democratic governance and respects for human rights...
The Sri Lankan government’s proposed Penal Code amendment on hate speech “directly contravenes” pledges made in a UN Human Rights Council resolution said the Tamil National Alliance, adding that it is “nearly identical” to the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act used to target Tamils and Muslims. Strongly opposing the amendment, the TNA stated the amendment is “nearly identical to Section 2(1)(h),” adding “the previous government used this very provision to target persons from the Tamil and Muslim communities and to deprive them of their freedom of speech and expression”. The statement went on to recall the cases of Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam and Muslim politician Asath Salley, both of whom were detained under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. “Both these persons were critical of the previous government’s policies, particularly with respect to the treatment of minority communities,” said the TNA. “These incidents and others like them prompted international condemnation of the previous government’s use of the PTA to suppress media freedom and dissent.”
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, welcoming the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs visit Sri Lanka, said that this year had been a “milestone year” in terms of US-Sri Lanka relations. In a statement made after an evening of discussion with Ambassador Thomas Shannon, Mr Samaraweera said, “I think it would be appropriate to say that Ambassador Shannon’s visit, combined with all the important visits that preceded, indicates the level of excellence that relations between our two countries have now reached.” Detailing discussions topics of the discussions, Mr Samaraweera said ways of making the partnership between the two nations stronger were addressed, including enhancing “bilateral trade and investment; and maritime cooperation including Sri Lanka’s participation in the ’Our Oceans’ Conference.