By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): The United States today announced the commitment of more than US $19 million in additional funds to further the development of Sri Lanka, the US Embassy in Sri Lanka said.
The U.S. $19.23 million (Rs 6.2 billion) is obligated through the Development Objective Grant Agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the government of Sri Lanka.
This development assistance will support economic growth and democratic governance activities and demonstrates the ongoing U.S. commitment to its partnership with Sri Lanka and in building lasting people-to-people ties.
The signing was commemorated today in a ceremony with Mission Director Grau and K M Mahinda Siriwardana, Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance Sri Lanka.
“This investment demonstrates the United States’ ongoing commitment to our partnership with Sri Lanka and our steadfast support to the people of this stunning, opportunity-filled country, as USAID Administrator Samantha Power and H.E. President Wickremesinghe discussed in New York,” said Gabriel Grau, USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission Director.
“With these funds we’ll continue to work with the government of Sri Lanka to improve economic growth and democratic governance and advocate for vulnerable populations.”
“The people of Sri Lanka appreciate the continued close collaboration and the very cordial partnership and support extended by the Government of the United States of America to Sri Lanka,” said Secretary Siriwardana. ”This grant will reinforce the government’s efforts to strengthen a democratic, prosperous, and resilient Sri Lanka.”
The United States has provided more than $2 billion (nearly Rs720 billion) in assistance to Sri Lanka since 1956.
Building on the USAID Administrator Samantha Powers’s recent visit, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung announced recently that the United States, through USAID, would provide an additional estimated $65 million in assistance to Sri Lanka over a five-year period.
The assistance falls under the Development Objectives Assistance Agreement (DOAG) signed by Gabriel Grau, Mission Director for USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives and Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies.
This funding is in addition to over $60 million of new humanitarian and fertilizer assistance that Administrator Power announced reently in response to the current economic and political crises in Sri Lanka
In celebration of the start of this new bilateral agreement, Ambassador Julie Chung remarked, “The United States and the American people are proud of our enduring and robust partnership with the people and government of Sri Lanka.
Shed added “ We remain fully committed to supporting locally led initiatives to advance a stable, prosperous, and peaceful Sri Lanka – critical to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all nations are connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure.”
