NEW BRIDGE FOR COOPERATION, COMMON DEVELOPMENT
Asanga cited his country as an example, saying Sri Lanka's first highways and many other infrastructure projects have been built with China's assistance, from which his nation has benefited immensely.
"China's Belt and Road Initiative will assist the entire global trade, benefit all countries, and improve the living conditions of people in Asia, Africa and Europe," he said.
Like Sri Lankans, Laotians in Si Phan Don, a riverine archipelago in the Mekong River in Champasak Province in the south of the Southeast Asian country, have also greatly benefited from the enhanced infrastructure cooperation with China.
For the thousands of residents living on some of the larger islands there, they had suffered chronic shortage of daily supplies for decades due to inconvenient transportation.
Thanks to a bridge built by a Chinese company, residents of Don Khong, the largest island in the area, are now able to travel in buses and cars to the provincial capital of Pakse, much safer and faster than riding ferries.
"The bridge has brought tangible changes to my life," said a middle-aged restaurant owner who identified himself as Malaikhan.
"Now we could buy almost all we need here, and the prices are much cheaper, perhaps 30 percent to 50 percent lower than they used to be," he said.
With a beaming smile on his face, the man said he bought a car after the bridge was open to traffic in 2014. "I heard the Chinese company will build a second bridge linking the island with the west bank of Mekong. I will definitely drive to Cambodia if the new bridge opens," he said.
According to Soukaseum Pakdimanivong, head of the Transportation Bureau in Champasak Province, the planned construction of the bridge will not only be a powerful boost to the tourism industry of both Laos and Cambodia, but also bear great significance to inter-connectivity within ASEAN.
