More diplomatic exchanges between Lanka and Singapore

Visiting Ministerial Consultant of Singapore Ang Mong Seng said he will formulate a mechanism to forge and enhance diplomatic exchange programmes between Sri Lanka and Singapore when he called on Prime Minister D M Jayaratne at his official residence on May 2.

He said Singapore which was lagging behind Sri Lanka economically in the 1980 decade had forged ahead as a vastly developed country and Sri Lanka could gain many economic benefits through co-operation with Singapore in the economic and financial sectors.

Ang Mong Seng said he would pursue the possibility of introducing investors to Sri Lanka from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

He said Singapore hoped to implement public housing schemes in Sri Lanka investing nearly 100 million Singapore dollars in each scheme. He said he had inspected possible sights for such schemes in Colombo suburbs.

Sri Lanka, he said, is a resplendent and hospitable country and congratulated the Sri Lanka government for its steps to improve the economic standards of its people.

He also commended the tax concession regimes granted by the government to foreign investors.

He said his eight member team also paid attention towards investment possibilities in the health, private university and mineral sand export sectors during the visit.

Prime Minister Jayaratne said several countries including Iran and India had helped to build houses for people displaced by war.

He said all displaced people had been re-settled in their original places in the North and East with the provision of all infrastructure facilities.

The government hoped to carry forward a middle class housing scheme for public and private sector employees and investors had the opportunity to invest in these housing programmes.

He said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had acted as a pilot of the country's march to become the Wonder of Asia by ensuring political and economic stability for the country.

He said anyone visiting Sri Lanka could now witness the giant progress achieved by the country after ending the war.

Prime Minister's Private Secretary Anuradha Jayaratne and a Singaporean investor Cyntia were also present on the occasion.