Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata said that Japan was a victim of corruption in Sri Lanka , and expressed optimism that the government would tackle the issue.
The Ambassador made these remarks in response to a query raised during a round table discussion organised by Pathfinder Foundation last week in Colombo.
Earlier, there were reports about some Japanese companies facing issues in Sri Lanka in securing investments. Japanese companies are strictly observe compliance obligations and therefore never offer bribes or kickbacks. Former Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki said in an interview with Daily Mirror last year that Sri Lanka has a very high potential of growth considering the strategic location in the Indian Ocean, but Sri Lanka needs improvement in creating a fair, credible, transparent business environment.
Ambassador Isomata , meanwhile said at last week’s round table discussion, he also attended the function to mark the launch of the National Anti -corruption Action Plan and listened to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake speaking of efforts to address the issue. The ambassador emphasized the need to implement the plan.
Responding to the President’s remarks that politicians belonging to his National People’s Power (NPP) are not involved in any form of corruption, he said it is equally important to address the same involving bureaucrats.
Commenting on Japan- Sri Lanka bilateral relations , he said Sri Lanka is a very important partner for Japan in many ways.” As Sri Lanka’s economy is getting back on track with the IMF( International Monetary Fund) agreement, with debt restructuring agreement, I don’t think Japanese companies will come immediately to make new investments at this stage. But as Sri Lankan economy goes back on track in a stable manner, I think we can cultivate interest of Japanese investors to take a closer look at opportunities in Sri Lanka for further investment. We need cooperation with Sri Lankan people,” he said.
“We are seeing increasing numbers of young Sri Lankans going to Japan for employment in Japanese companies. There are two kind of programmes for inviting young foreign workers in Japan right now. One is called the TITP -Technical Intern Training Programme . The second one, a newly started one several years ago, is SSW -Specified Skilled Worker Programme. Under these two programmes, an increasing number of Sri Lankan youngsters are going to Japan right now. We have opened up eight industrial sectors for Sri Lankan workers, starting with caregiving, hotel accommodation, food industry, agriculture, construction, and most recently, transportation sector like bus driver, truck driver. This will strengthen Japan’s labour market. We need young labour force because Japan is facing a problem of ageing society,” he said.
Asked whether Japan is ready to undertake fresh loan projects since the country has completed debt restructuring, he said Japan is ready to consider if there is a request from the Sri Lankan end. However, he said that it depends on Sri Lanka’s debt servicing ability