Japanese Finance Minister in Sri Lanka this week

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki will arrive in Sri Lanka this week.

Ahead of the proposed visit, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Japan E. Rodney M. Perera met with Finance Minister  Suzuki at the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo.

The Japanese Minister will be in Sri Lanka on January 11 and 12.

The formal meeting was pursuant to a brief exchange between Ambassador Perera and Finance Minister Suzuki had during the Garden Party hosted by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan a month earlier.

Ambassador Perera extended his deepest appreciation to Minister Suzuki and his team for their visit and dedicated efforts towards assisting Sri Lanka’s economic restructuring initiatives bilaterally and in the international arena, the Foreign Ministry said.

Ambassador Perera also emphasized Sri Lanka's eagerness to modernize its economy, leveraging Japan's experience and expertise from both the government and the corporate sectors.

The upcoming visit by Finance Minister Suzuki signifies an important milestone in fortifying bilateral relations and advancing Sri Lanka's economic prospects through collaborative efforts between the two countries. 

The visit by the Japanese Finance Minister to Sri Lanka, after a lapse of more than ten years, is in continuance of bilateral consultations on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process and efforts to reinvigorate economic cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry said.

Several important visits in the past eight months are paving the way for renewed efforts for expansion of cooperation in multiple sectors.  Following President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Tokyo in May 2023, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi undertook an official visit to Sri Lanka in July 2023, the first such high-level visit from Japan in more than four years.