By: Staff Writer Colombo (LNW): Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Komura Masahiro stated that his country would continue to support Sri Lanka’s economic recovery process and lauded the government for stabilizing the economy during a short span of time and making further progress. He has also expressed confidence that structural reforms undertaken by the government would improve the conducive atmosphere for foreign investments. During his discussion with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees on (Oct 10), the Japanese Vice-Minister said that his visit to Sri Lanka to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) has given him an opportunity to interact with Sri Lankan leadership regarding bilateral cooperation. He assured fullest support to Sri Lanka at IORA, during its 2-year tenure as Chairman. The Prime Minister, referring to the fact that Sri Lanka is situated at strategic juncture along the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and an important partner in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific policy, emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the two countries with common principles. Expressing deep concern over escalation of conflict in Gaza Stripe, he said that the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in global economic downturn and the world, especially the developing countries could not face another such disaster over a military conflict. Furthermore, he urged the two sides involved in the conflict to cease violence immediately, the PM’s Office said in a statement. The Prime Minister thanked the Japanese Vice-Minister for the support extended to Sri Lanka for the debt restructuring process and assured that Sri Lanka is committed to a transparent and comparable debt restructuring process. Masahiro commended Sri Lanka’s efforts in implementing the policy making process in accordance with the agreement with the IMF, and expressed his hope that Sri Lanka will bring itself back on track for development as soon as possible. Japan, one of Sri Lanka’s main creditors, will back the South Asian nation as it seeks to restructure about $30 billion of its foreign debt and find a way out of a crippling economic crisis. “Japan stands by Sri Lanka in support of the debt restructuring negotiation process so that Sri Lanka can reach the final agreement with the IMF,” he said. Japan holds around $3.5 billion of Sri Lanka’s total bilateral debt of about $10 billion, amounting to 4.4% of the island’s GDP, according to government and IMF data. “Japan intends to play a constructive role with other creditor countries, including China and India.”