Courtesy Call on President Wickremesinghe of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka by Foreign Minister Hayashi

2023/7/29

On July 29, commencing at 8:00 a.m. (local time; 11:30 p.m. JST) for approximately 75 minutes, Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, paid a courtesy call (breakfast format) on H.E. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The overview is as follows.

1. At the outset, President Wickremesinghe welcomed Minister Hayashi's visit. In response, Minister Hayashi stated that the fact that President Wickremesinghe's visited Japan twice during his first year in office symbolizes the deepening bilateral relationship between the two countries.

2. Minister Hayashi expressed his hope for further progress in the debt restructuring process and underscored the importance of a transparent and comparable debt restructuring that involves all creditor countries. President Wickremesinghe stated that he will take at most care to the transparency and comparability of the debt restructuring, and reiterated his appreciation for Japan's contribution to the discussions on debt restructuring.

3. Minister Hayashi stated that Japan attaches great importance to cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which Sri Lanka will chair from October. President Wickremesinghe welcomed Japan’s proactive contribution as the IORA chair.

4. They also candidly exchanged views on bilateral relations, regional situation including East Asia, and cooperation on economy.