France is playing a key role in the restructuring of Sri Lanka’s official external bilateral debt. The French Ambassador in Colombo, Jean-François Pactet, said,
“France assisted in establishing Sri Lanka’s committee of Official Creditors, which it co-chairs with Japan and India, he added.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka France Business Council in Colombo, Pactet said that France, through the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Ministry of Economy, continues to develop its cooperation through grants in order to finance technical assistance in the agriculture, renewable energy, and marine sectors in Sri Lanka.
Detailing several planned initiatives in these sectors, Ambassador Pactet added that the Economic Department of the French Embassy is keen to work actively with the SLFBC to continue developing bilateral trade and investment.
He mentioned the dynamism of Sri Lankan exports to France in 2022, resulting in a growing trade surplus of 432 million euros in favour of Sri Lanka, and his will to rebalance the bilateral trade by developing French exports to Sri Lanka.
