RELATIONS TAKEN TO A NEW LEVEL
Najib has productive talks with Sri Lanka president, prime minister and captains of industry
COLOMBO
PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was accorded the highest level of reception by the Sri Lankan government in his first official working visit to the Indian Ocean country.
He ended his three-day sojourn on Tuesday on a high note, boosting bilateral economic and diplomatic ties that started 60 years ago to a new level.
“I started my official visit this morning for the first time. I came for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013, but this is the first visit on the invitation of the Sri Lankan president,” Najib said at a special dinner here on Monday.
“This (Monday) morning, I was given a very special welcome. I was also welcomed by a cultural group in the compound of the president’s office. This shows that the Sri Lankan government’s arrangements, in terms of protocol, are at the highest level.”
This reflects Sri Lanka’s aim to forge closer ties with Malaysia.
It is a clear manifestation of its desire to strengthen relations and, at the same time, signifies its highest consideration towards Malaysia as a nation.
Najb had productive discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as the country’s industry captains.
Sirisena and Wickremesinghe expressed desire to continue negotiations to conclude a free trade agreement with Malaysia.
They wanted to expand bilateral trade and investment.
However, this plan seems a bit challenging, though not impossible. Malaysia exports 10 times more than Sri Lanka.
To Najib, it was a welcoming challenge to rebalance the twoway trade, which stood at US$600 million (RM2.4 billion) last year.
Malaysia was looking at ways to import more from Sri Lanka, he said, adding in jest that he could convince the owner of the Ministry of Crabs restaurant here, where he and the Malaysian delegation had visited on Sunday, to open a branch in Kuala Lumpur.
“If we can outsource Sri Lankan mud crabs, maybe we can improve imports from the country,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.
The prime minister pledged to help rebuild Sri Lanka’s war-torn northern province, following his meeting with the province’s chief minister, C.V Wigneswaran.
He said Malaysia would send a mission to Jaffna next year to identify aid needed for some 45,000 single mothers, who lost their husbands in the civil war and became breadwinners, and 11,000 unemployed ex-soldiers.
Najib also played a big part in resolving the long-standing issue of licence renewal for Axiata Group Bhd’s Sri Lanka’s subsidiary Dialog Axiata Group.
Dialog, which is Sri Lanka’s largest telco by subscribers and its fourth largest corporation, has failed to get its licence renewed since May 2015.
Najib and Sirisena agreed to set up a four-member committee to resolve the impasse, which has deterred Dialog’s plan to top up its investment of US$2.2 billion since 1995.
As for Malaysians here, he reminded them to be on board to ensure that the country was more successful.
Citing a recent statement from the World Bank that Malaysia would be a developed nation between 2020 and 2024, Najib said that showed that the country was on the right track.
“Each of you is a goodwill ambassador, carry it with pride. Don’t run down our country. Be proud of Malaysia as Malaysia has been recognised as a success story. If you continue to play your part, we will achieve our aspirations,” he said.