Andrew McDowell, newly appointed Vice President of the European Investment Bank responsible for South Asia, in a three day visit to Sri Lanka addressing the media at the Finance Ministry yesterday (28th March) said he had held discussions about recent engagement and future investment with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Vice President McDowell said he had discussions with Premier Wickremesinghe about the sustainable development plan scheduled to be released by the government in May and the possibilities of investing in it in the future. He also said EIB will offer the best possible interest rates to Sri Lanka and they were driven by the projects given to the EIB for lending.

He said the EIB had provided 50 million Euros for the upgrading wastewater infrastructure in Colombo.

The visit by the European Investment Bank is an opportunity for the Sri Lankan Government to showcase their plans for the sustainable development of the country said Tung-La Margue, European Union Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

In January the European Investment Bank agreed to provide EUR 50 million to support improvement and expansion of sewage networks across the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The loan will help Colombo Municipal Council to achieve its goal of providing full sanitation coverage to benefit people living and working in the greater Colombo area and represented the EIB’s fifth sovereign loan in the country. The European Investment Bank which is Europe’s long-term lending institution and owned directly by the 28 European Union member states and has supported investment in Sri Lanka since 2002 including backing climate related investment, private companies and post-tsunami recovery and has committed another 200 million Euros for the period of 2014-20 for Sri Lanka.