-By A Staff Writer
(Lanka-e-News -15.July.2025, 10.45 PM) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held high-level talks yesterday with Sultan A. Al-Marshad, Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), to assess the progress of ongoing projects in Sri Lanka and to explore avenues for future collaboration, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and digital transformation.
The meeting, held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, marks a renewed effort by the Dissanayake administration to strengthen ties with one of Sri Lanka’s long-standing development partners as the country navigates its economic recovery following a historic sovereign default and deep fiscal crisis.
According to officials present at the discussion, the SFD delegation and Sri Lankan leadership reviewed the current portfolio of SFD-funded projects, with emphasis on enhancing institutional efficiency through digital governance, a priority area identified by both parties.
The Saudi delegation expressed strong interest in supporting Sri Lanka’s ambitions to digitise public service delivery, acknowledging the critical role of technology in driving governance reform and financial transparency. SFD also reaffirmed its commitment to continuing existing projects in Sri Lanka without disruption, despite macroeconomic challenges.
“The Fund has agreed to prioritise future assistance in line with community needs and national development priorities,” President Dissanayake said, highlighting that new projects supported by the SFD would be designed around grassroots demand rather than top-down frameworks.
President Dissanayake used the occasion to acknowledge the longstanding bilateral relationship between Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, underscoring Riyadh’s unconditional financial support during the height of Sri Lanka’s economic turmoil.
“Saudi Arabia has extended vital support at a time when others were hesitant,” the President stated, noting that the nature of assistance offered by the SFD had consistently been non-intrusive and non-conditional, allowing Sri Lanka to maintain policy autonomy during sensitive fiscal negotiations.
The Saudi delegation included Khalid Hamoud Nasser Aldasam Alkahtani, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka, and Saud Ayid R. Alshammari, Director General for Asian Operations at the SFD, along with other senior representatives from the Fund.
Representing the Government of Sri Lanka were Dr. Anil Jayantha Pranandu, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Roshan Gamagedara, Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Dr. Harsha Suriya-Peruma, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, and R.M.S.P.S. Bandara, Director General of the Department of External Resources.
The SFD has played a pivotal role in financing infrastructure and social sector projects across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In Sri Lanka, the Fund has been instrumental in supporting road development, health infrastructure, and water supply projects, often on highly concessional terms.
Analysts suggest that this renewed engagement could pave the way for expanded Gulf investment into Sri Lanka, particularly at a time when the South Asian nation is actively seeking diversified sources of bilateral financing to reduce dependency on multilateral lending.
President Dissanayake’s outreach to Riyadh also aligns with his broader foreign policy shift aimed at cultivating non-Western strategic partnerships while preserving economic sovereignty and avoiding entanglements tied to traditional donor conditionality.
As Sri Lanka prepares for the second review of its IMF programme, partnerships like the one with SFD are expected to play a stabilising role—both politically and financially—in securing counter-cyclical capital flows for infrastructure investment.
-By A Staff Writer
---------------------------
by (2025-07-15 17:18:05)
Read 5370 Times
Leave a Reply
0 discussion on this news