An agreement has been made to establish a strong relationship between Shanghai in China, which is ranked first among the world’s port cities, and the cities of Colombo and Hambantota in Sri Lanka, which have been planned to be developed as a maritime hub in the East and West shipping routes in the future.
The agreement was made during Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s discussion with the Mayor of Shanghai, Gong Seng in Shanghai, China today (Mar 29).
According to the PM’s Office, Prime Minister Gunawardena pointed out that a long time has passed since the Sister City Agreement between Colombo and Shanghai was signed.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that further work can be carried out under this agreement, which was signed when his brother Prasanna Gunawardena was holding the post of Mayor.
It was emphasised that the city of Shanghai, which has handled 49.5 million containers in terms of cargo transportation, last year ranked first in cargo transportation in the world and there are many lessons that can be learnt by Sri Lanka in the said sector.
The Mayor of Shanghai assured that the city of Shanghai, which has an annual production income of 4.72 trillion Yuan and is also a first-class business centre and a centre for financial transactions in the world, will share their experiences with Sri Lanka.
PM Gunawardena pointed out that huge lessons can also be learnt by Sri Lanka from the progress made in the planned urban development of the city of Shanghai, which has a population of 25 million people.
The Mayor of Shanghai expressed his agreement to support Sri Lanka in each of those fields and invited the officials of those fields to visit Shanghai and study the said fields.
The interest of the Chinese people to travel in Sri Lanka, which has many UNESCO heritage sites, has increased, and it was also agreed to explore the possibility of increasing the flights between Colombo and Shanghai.
A group including State Ministers Shehan Samesinhe, Ashoka Priyantha, and Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake participated in the discussion. (NewsWire)