Sri Lanka cannot continue to obtain loans as a country: Foreign Minister

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka cannot continue to obtain loans as a country, says Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris. Expressing his sentiments during a program carried out by the Ministry of Foreign affairs focusing on the economic revival in the country, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Professor G. L. Peiris said that International assistance will be obtained to build the country through a policy framework that is not limited to only one group in the future. Speaking further, the Foreign Minister said that in order to build the country, Sri Lanka must focus on other ways to earn capital. Investments, trade, tourism and then the income brought by migrant workers are certain examples of the ways which the country can focus in order increase capital, he said. Furthermore, the Foreign Minister said that Sri Lanka had opened its borders, and that tourists have already started coming in to the country, and cited the tourism situation in the country as an example of Sri Lanka being able to deal with the outer world. " Even the UK prime minister has appointed an agent to focus on the trade deals with us. This is a great novel opportunity for us. Then on the tourism sector, we should focus in new tourism methods, for example, environment tourism. We can coordinate with our diplomatic missions and promote it," the Minister said. Additionally, he also said that Sri Lanka is also focusing on increasing the country's scope, especially when it comes to  migrant workers. The Minister also spoke of the earlier situation when Korea announced that they will only allow migrant workers who had been working at the country for a long period of time to come back and work in Korea. Further noting the high profile delegation from the European Union visiting Sri Lanka to discuss on the GSP+ issue, the Minister said that Sri Lanka was able to show the EU the country's stance and enunciate to them on the mechanism the Government has implemented to rectify any misunderstandings. " When it comes to our foreign policy, we are on the stance that we must have equal diplomatic relationships with every country in the world. We must have a good diplomatic relationship with India. We must not forget China as well, they helped us a lot in developing our infrastructure. 65% of our exports are being sent to the Western World, which means our ties with USA and Europe are vital as well. All our diplomatic missions are now focused on Economic Diplomacy, that aspect will be their priority," Prof. G.L. Peiris added.