On the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for BIA: Bandaranaike International Airport Development Project

      It is my great honor to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bandaranaike International Airport Project Phase–2, which takes place today, November 18^th, the first year anniversary of H.E. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Presidency and a happy occasion of the birthday of Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.  On behalf of the Government and People of Japan, I extend my warmest congratulations to H.E. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa marking his first year in office.  And “Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns” to Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa!  
 
      Over the nearly seven decades, the Japanese economic cooperation towards Sri Lanka has evolved in close consonance with the genuine development needs of the Sri Lankan people. With a firm belief that only by promoting high-quality economic growth of Sri Lanka would such genuine development needs be addressed, the Government of Japan has extended assistance for developing “high-quality infrastructure” in wide-ranging areas, including ports, roads, power supply, water supply,  irrigation, and not least, airports.
 
      Fully aware of the vital importance of the BIA as a hub for both logistics and passenger traffic for Sri Lanka, Japan extended assistance for the development of the BIA through expansion and refurbishment of facilities, modernization of air traffic control equipment and construction of the cargo terminal building in different phases, from 1981 to 1988 and from 1999 to 2007 respectively.  In this sense, the BIA remains no less closer to our hearts than Sri Lankan people, as we walked down the history of its development over the last 40 years together.  As you saw in the video presentation earlier, in 2014, the then Prime Minister ABE Shinzo, on the occasion of his auspicious visit to Sri Lanka, celebrated, here at the BIA, together with the then President H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa,  the enduring cooperation between Japan and Sri Lanka to develop and improve this valued airport. Therefore, I can’t overemphasize more how delighted I am to stand in the presence of Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa today to mark another milestone in the development of the BIA.
 
      The centerpiece of this project is construction of a new multi-level passenger terminal building.  This state-of-the-art passenger terminal will increase the passenger handling capacity of the BIA to approximately 15 million passengers per annum. While using Japanese advanced technology and expertise, the building will provide barrier-free access and environmentally friendly features benevolent both to the people and the nature. I strongly hope that this project will greatly enhance the BIA’s capacity and function as the gateway to Sri Lanka, thus promoting business activities and tourism of this country as well as elevating the BIA as the air traffic hub, not only of Sri Lanka alone but of the greater spectrum of the Indian Ocean.
 
      The BIA project stands as an icon of our friendship. As we edge closer to the 70th anniversary of Japan-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations in 2022, it further adds to my great pleasure to jointly celebrate today’s groundbreaking ceremony, because this joint endeavor will further consolidate the long-standing economic relations between our two countries and open a new horizon for our time-honored relationship.
 
      I heard that the Sinhala colloquial discourse commonly refers to the Japanese people as "Japana Hapana", to reflect the skills and ingenuity of our people.  We, the Government of Japan and Japanese contractors, are committed to doing our very best to live up to this  great expectation placed on “Japana Hapana” in executing this important project, in cooperation with the Government of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan contractors.
 
      Last but certainly not least, I would like to express deep appreciation to the Ministry of Tourism under the leadership of Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga, the State Ministry of Aviation and Export Zones Development under the leadership of Hon. D.V. Chanaka, and the AASL (Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd) under the leadership of Major General G.A. Chandrasiri for their cooperation. We look forward to working closely with them in order to achieve a successful completion of this important project. While reiterating my warmest congratulations on the groundbreaking ceremony today, I would like to reiterate Japan’s solidarity with Sri Lanka in the current combat against COVID 19.

      Thank you very much for your kind attention.