President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to revive discussions with the Japanese government about the resumption of 16 projects  including the light rail transit project, that were to be executed with Japanese aid but were arbitrarily abandoned by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The report states that the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, will discuss these projects during the President’s upcoming visit to Japan.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to leave for Japan tonight (25) to attend the state funeral ceremony of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was killed in a gun attack. Among these, it is stated that 16 projects, including the development of the western terminal of Colombo Port and an LNG power plant, are included.

The projects were proposed to be built at a cost of $2.2 billion with a loan provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at a 1% interest rate.

The Gotabhaya Rajapaksa government’s cancellation of the project, which was accepted by scholars as a successful solution to the Colombo transport crisis, without giving any reason,led to diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka being damaged.