Macron pledges to speed up debt restructure in historic visit says president’s office
COLOMBO – President Emmanuel Macron has pledged strong support to speed up and complete debt restructuring through the Paris Club and encourage other partners, in the first visit of a French head of state to the island.
“During his historical visit to Sri Lanka, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his strong support to complete the debt restructuring process from both the Paris Club Secretariat as well as the French government,” the President’s media office said.
Macron made a short stopover in Sri Lanka on Friday (28), the first visit by a French president to the island nation, which is undergoing a difficult economic recovery He was en route home from Oceania, after visiting Papua New Guinea, the French territory of New Caledonia and the sea-threatened archipelago of Vanuatu.
The French leader, who spent less than two hours in the country, was welcomed by his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Following the airport meeting, the president’s office said France will also encourage all other partners to support and expedite the completion of debt restructuring, the media office said.
France is the fourth largest bilateral creditor of Sri Lanka.
A permanent office for the French Agency for Development (AfD) will be set up in Sri Lanka, the media office said, adding that a school for maritime safety and security will also be set up as part of corporation in the maritime sphere and that tThe two countries will co-operate in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and the Indian Ocean Commission where France is involved.
Meanwhile, President Macron tweeted “Sri Lanka and France are two Indian Ocean nations that share the same goal: an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” adding, “In Colombo we confirmed it: strengthened by 75 years of diplomatic relations, we can open a new era of our partnership.”
President Wickremesinghe had said will join the Paris Agenda for the People and the Planet.
President Macron recalled his recent conversations with President Wickremesinghe in Paris, which took place during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact.
“This is a historic visit,” the Elysee said of the meeting, which occurred after Macron disembarked around 11:30 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).
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