Before I speak on the Belt and Road Initiative from Sri Lanka’s perspective，I thought it would be good to give a background on the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and China. In fact，the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and China spans centuries and is a multi-faceted relationship，as it has been outlined in a statement made by the Chinese Premier during the visit of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister to China earlier this year. He stated that both countries share the view that China and Sri Lanka are good friends who have been through the test of time and no matter what changes take place in the international landscape or in our domestic environment，our friendship and cooperation will always move forward.Modern day relationship between China and Sri Lanka were established back in 1952 with the signing of a Rubber and Rice pact，which was subsequently followed by establishing of diplomatic relations in 1957. More recently in 2014，Sri Lanka and China have elevated its relationship to a strategic economic partnership covering trade，economy，infrastructure development，science and technology，education and culture.Over the years，China has made important contributions to Sri Lanka’s economic and social development and has extended preferential loans and donations to the country，as well as constructed a number of mega projects in the country including the ports，airports，highways，power plants，etc. You could see a number of landmarks in Colombo which have been donated by China，such as the Convention Center，the Supreme Court Complex，and also more recently a Cultural Center.Last year，China has extended support in the health sector in order to fight chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka. China has also extended traineeships and scholarships towards building Sri Lanka’s human resources.In terms of bilateral trade between China and Sri Lanka，trade has expanded tremendously over the last 5 years. In fact，it has expanded at a much greater pace than Sri Lanka’s trade with the rest of the world. Consequently China has emerged as Sri Lanka’s second largest trading partner and also an important source of imports. In fact，China figures as the second largest source of imports into Sri Lanka. In terms of exports，China is the fifth largest export market after the US，UK，Germany and Italy.China has also emerged as an important foreign direct investor to the country over the last couple of years，and more recently China has become an important source of tourists to the country；in fact becoming the second largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka. This has been facilitated by more air connectivity between Colombo and a number of destinations in China.Speaking of the Belt and Road Initiative，Sri Lanka has recognized the importance of initiative and has pledged support towards it given that it coincides with Sri Lanka’s own vision of establishing itself as a hub in the Indian Ocean. In this respect，Sri Lanka can play a very important role in the Maritime Silk Road，given its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. In fact，Sri Lanka has played this role in the past. In the ancient Silk Road，it has been an important entreport for exchange of goods in the Indian Ocean by connecting Asia with Africa and the rest of South Asia. Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location and combined with its historical involvement in maritime cooperation makes Sri Lanka an important strategic partner in the maritime Silk Road.As mentioned，China over the recent past has extended a number support towards building infrastructure in the country in terms of highways，ports，airports as well as providing funds to modernize the southern container terminal in Colombo. Work has also re-commenced on Sri Lanka’s largest FDI project to date，the Colombo Port City project，which aims to expand the development space of Colombo city and stimulate investments and employment. This initiative，the Colombo Port City，which is now called the Financial City，will be an important stop in the Maritime Silk Road and will help to strengthen Sri Lanka’s position as a hub in Indian Ocean.Other activities，which China will undertake in Sri Lanka in connection with the Belt and Road Initiatives includes setting up of the industrial zone in the south of the country.The Belt and Road Initiative has 5 major objectives，which includes policy coordination，connectivity，unimpeded trade，financial integration，and people-to-people contact. Already with regard to connectivity，this has been met by China investing in a number of mega projects in Sri Lanka to develop the connectivity of Sri Lanka with the rest of the world.With regard to trade，currently China and Sri Lanka are negotiating a free trade agreement. Both countries hope that they will be able to sign this particular agreement by the middle of 2017.With regard to financial integration，which is the other objective of the Belt and Road Initiative，Sri Lanka is already a member of AIIB.With regard to people-to-people exchange，there has obviously been a number of cultural and academy exchanges between China and Sri Lanka over the years，as well as influx of Chinese tourists into Sri Lanka. This has obviously gone towards meeting the objective of furthering people-to-people bonds.When it comes to challenges in terms of implementation，this initiative has raised concern of China’s intentions given the ambitious of the plan due to a number of factors. One is because of the deficit in trust/lack of trust，and also competition among the super powers and emerging powers in the region. Therefore，the success of this initiative will be largely governed by geo-political factors and how they are going to play out. Building trust will be an important means to address this issue. In this respect，Sri Lanka can play an important ole in building this trust and gaining this trust given that Sri Lanka has cordial and good relations with all neighbors in South Asia. Sri Lanka could provide the necessary platform for China to connect with the other countries in the Indian Ocean and thereby cement its relationship，and dispel any concern with regards to the Belt and Road Initiative.In terms of other challenges，from the perspective of Sri Lanka，there should be much more consideration given to the lending standards. In the case of Sri Lanka，this has been lacking. This could impede the progress of the Belt and Road Initiative，if monies are put into unfeasible projects which have no economic return.Also，so far much of the effort in Sri Lanka has been concentrated towards building connectivity and a lot of money has been invested infrastructure development. But the other four areas of the Belt and Road Initiative，have received less prominence in the case of Sri Lanka.Moreover，there is little awareness in Sri Lanka of this important initiative beyond thank tanks and policy circles. There should be more awareness of this initiative amongst the general public because the people at large play an equally important role in this initiative.Another concern has been the lack of detailed plan，which makes it difficult for countries to assess the full implications and the long term benefits for the country concerned. So from the perspective of Sri Lanka，it will benefit if there is much more participation or information with regard to detailed future plans of the Belt and Road Initiative，so that we could absorb the initiative and make better use of initiative in the years to come and mutually benefit from it.