Colombo, May 14 (newsin.asia) – China, on Monday approved a loan of US 1 billion dollars to construct the phase one of the Central Expressway in Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement here.
China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan met Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe in capital Colombo and said instructions had been given to China’s EXIM Bank to process the loan.
The Ambassador requested the Sri Lankan side to expedite administrative and legal formalities.
During discussions, Ambassador Cheng and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe also discussed the Hambantota port project, in southern Sri Lanka and the Colombo Port City project.
“With regard to Hambantota Port, the Chinese Ambassador mentioned that they encourage investors to set up factories for producing high end products. The Ambassador said once started the two projects will become the engine of growth for Sri Lanka,” the statement said.
The Chinese Ambassador also requested to expedite the negotiations for signing of the China, Sri Lanka free trade agreement and the progress of Chinese funded water projects were also discussed, the statement added.
