Sri Lanka's Foreign Policy Revisited

As a country we are heavily dependent on the rest of the world. In 2010 17% of what we produced was sold to foreigners. About 27% of expenditure was on imported goods and services. Our migrant numbering around 1.5 million or about 20% of the country's workforce sent $4.1 billion in remittances, roughly 8.2% of Sri Lanka's national income in 2010. Of the total private investment in that year about 5% came from foreign investors. About 4.4% of government spending was funded with foreign grants and loans. It is obvious that we are significantly dependent on the rest of the world for our wellbeing. In the years to come this dependence will increase as we rely more on exports, tourism, foreign employment, foreign investment and aid and credit. That means it is important for Sri Lanka to have good relations with foreign countries in general and our trading partners and the world's more powerful countries and blocs in particular.

From what we known we currently have very good relations with China. The Sri Lankan government is confident that China will back our country in any conformation with the west that is critical of the handling of the last phase of the ethnic war in 2009 and issues of governance and human rights in general.

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