During the visit, COO Nash met with senior government officials, including Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne, and Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam.The proposed MCC Sri Lanka Compact is in the final stage of development. It is funded entirely through grants which do not need to be repaid, as opposed to loans.

“The proposed Compact reflects our commitment to development projects that make economic sense and drive growth in a way that increases local jobs,” said Chargé d’affairesRobert Hilton. “With this compact, we have an opportunity to promote transparent decisions about Sri Lanka’s long-term interests in terms of costs, benefits, and sustainable development.”

“We are pleased that progress continues on the proposed MCC compact,” said Nash. “Developed in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, the Compact is designed to spur economic growth and investment by the private sector to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunities for the people of Sri Lanka,”

Based on an analysis of the country’s economy and the constraints that are holding back private investment and growth, MCC expects to invest in projects proposed by the Government of Sri Lanka in the transport and land sectors. The Compact would improve road networks and the bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, improve road connectivity between the central region and ports and markets in the Western Province. It would upgrade more than 300 kilometres of urban and inter provincial roads, and also, land administration, strengthening land rights.

MCC is an innovative foreign assistance agency of the United States Government established in 2004 that has signed compacts with 29 countries around the world. In December 2016, MCC’s Board of Directors selected Sri Lanka to develop a compact.