USD 45 mn Japanese assistance so far this year

Japanese Ambassador to Colombo Mizukoshi Hideaki on Thursday (03) visited Ragala-watta, in the Central Province, where he distributed urgently needed food items. Hideaki was accompanied by his wife Mizukoshi Mariko and World Food Programme (WFP) Representative Abdur Rahim Siddiqui. The Japanese Embassy said that food assistance was being provided in line with a decision taken this year to release USD 3.5 mn for this purpose.

The Embassy added: “During the past seven decades, Japan has been providing extensive support throughout the island to help enhance peace and socioeconomic development in Sri Lanka, including livelihood improvement and empowerment of the people. In this year itself, Japan has so far provided a total of approximately 45 mn USD as grant assistance, under immediate, mid- and long-term assistance, addressing the urgent needs, while enhancing the scapacity and potentiality of the people of Sri Lanka for further growth.”