BRI a functional machinery in global economic recovery: Sri Lankan expert
Posted on September 21st, 2020

By Xian Jiangnan (People’s Daily Online)  

The continuation of protectionism by America, the largest economy body in the world, will only result in further contraction of the world economy and aggravation of unemployment, poverty and deprivation, said Luxman Siriwardena, president of the Sri Lanka-based Pathfinder Foundation.

In a recent interview with People’s Daily Online, Siriwardena said that the unilateralism and protectionism currently being championed by the American administration goes against the values the West has promoted since the end of World War II.

When I was undertaking graduate studies at an American university in the 1980s, it would have been totally unacceptable for any of the economic professors to believe that the protectionism in trade and investment would enhance the welfare of the international community,” he recalled, sharing that since the establishment of formal China-Sri Lankan diplomatic relations, China has been the most reliable, all-weather friend of Sri Lanka.

In recent years, Sri Lanka has taken an active role in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which, he stressed, is the most logical development strategy for Sri Lanka.

The successful completion of the three major development projects in Sri Lanka under the BRI, namely Colombo Port City Project, Hambantota International Port and proposed Hambantota Industrial Zone, will have a transformative impact on the Sri Lankan economy.

In the post-pandemic era, the BRI is a functional machinery which can substantially contribute to the recovery of the global economy,” he noted, voicing hope that the initiative will have more inclusive and comprehensive programs encompassing a larger amount of countries.

While this is a decisive year for China to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and to end extreme poverty, according to Siriwardena, China’s development has been unprecedented” in the history of the entire world.

The process has been inclusive in the sense that China has uplifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty while achieving advancement in science, technology and culture,” he said, adding that China has addressed the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the recent past, citing the pollution management in the city of Beijing as an example.

Looking ahead, Siriwardena said the two countries will enhance their cooperation in various fields, such as COVID-19 pandemic control and prevention, investment in manufacturing, logistics and services, infrastructure as well as economic digitalization, and people-to-people exchanges.

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, Siriwardena pointed out that both China and Sri Lanka have managed to control the virus with relatively minimal loss of life, and praised China’s commitment to distribute the vaccine to the rest of the world, which will contribute to the vision of building a community of health for all in the near future

2 Responses to “BRI a functional machinery in global economic recovery: Sri Lankan expert”

  1. aloy Says:

    I am curious as to how an American tool such as Pathfinder foundation with so many born and bred people in the US has got close to China which has funded our assets such as H’thota, Port City etc. So, does it mean that H’thota port was sold by RW with the consent of US for all the subsequent things to happen?. And can we count on China to have an interest to actually develop those facilities and hand over to us.

    No country has genuinely helped others, except those in the west, in the development of technology. Japan acquired it from US with their former citizens; it is happening even today in the case of China with Jensen Huang who owns Nvidea which is buying ARM (for $40 Billions which is a surprising move). These may even be carrots for China to do what US wants at this moment?. South Korea developed their tech industry via Samsung which in turn got it from Japan quietly over a length of time and Taiwan got it with help of one or two bright and courageous guys like the creator of TSMC and Acer brand.

    It looks as if our country is to be partitioned and given over to the vying three powers on a platter and a Vice Roy to oversea both SL and India is being appointed. Will we come to a point of no return in the near future due to the selfish action of all these retirees and old codgers. I believe it is time for patriots to do some last ditch moves and avoid this trap.

  2. aloy Says:

    Jensen is an ethnic Chinese from Taiwan and at the moment China is in a fix due to the blocking of US technology of microarchitecture design by ARM for CPUs for mobile having a world market of 95% and presently encroaching into computers as well. As I understand ARM is UK owned but operations are mainly in the US.

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