Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to UNESCAP Meets Executive Secretary in Bangkok

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), H E Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to UNESCAP, at the UNESCAP Headquarters in Bangkok.

Ambassador Edirisinghe, while thanking the Executive Secretary for her continues support for Sri Lanka and highlighted the importance of further engagement between Sri Lanka and UNESCAP. She also recalled the discussion held between the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York and the Executive Secretary in July 2025, where it was underlined the importance of attracting suitable and feasible projects to achieve sustainable development goals. The Executive Secretary had stressed the need for a well-scrutinized mechanism to avoid shortcomings, fallback measures to address unforeseen difficulties—as seen in other countries in the region—and a stronger focus on trade and income generation to overcome current economic challenges.

The Ambassador expressed appreciation for the opportunity to continue this dialogue in Bangkok, and sought further information on UNESCAP’s projects that could contribute to Sri Lanka’s efforts in overcoming economic instability.

In response, the Executive Secretary briefed on the initiatives undertaken by UNESCAP on macroeconomic policies and financing for development in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka. She also referred to the close cooperation between UNESCAP and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) on several projects aimed at fostering sustainable economic growth.

In this context, reference was made to ESCAP’s ongoing support to Sri Lanka under regional initiatives such as “Scaling up Climate Finance in Asia-Pacific” and “Catalyzing finance and investments for climate action.” These projects have helped strengthen Sri Lanka’s capacity to access sustainable financing, develop green bond frameworks, explore debt-for-climate swap mechanisms, and build investment-ready project pipelines to bridge the climate finance gap. Working in partnership with national institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, Presidential Secretariat, and Sustainable Development Council, as well as with international partners including UNDP, GGGI, and the Luxembourg Green Exchange, these initiatives are designed to support both Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and its long-term climate resilience goals.

Beyond climate finance, UNESCAP continues to support Sri Lanka through a wide range of programmes across its divisions — including policy advice on trade and investment, sustainable business and digitalization, electric mobility and transport studies, ICT development and women’s entrepreneurship, strengthening climate-resilient social protection, statistical capacity building, disaster risk reduction, space applications, and sustainable agricultural mechanization. These initiatives reflect ESCAP’s comprehensive approach to supporting Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, sustainable development, and regional integration.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Tsuen Yip Jonathan Wong, Chief/Investment, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Sudip Ranjan Basu, Secretary of the Commission, Office of the Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, Ms. Thilini Ihalage, Minister Counsellor/Head of Chancery and Ms. Shiwanthi Abeyarathne, Minister Counsellor (Commerce) of the Mission.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Bangkok
6th September 2025