President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is currently in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), held meetings with several state leaders and diplomats yesterday.
President Wickremesinghe held a meeting with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday (19) where the two leaders talked about various aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation.
Prime Minister Hasina informed President Wickremesinghe that she was pleased with Sri Lanka’s speedy recovery from the financial crisis, adding that she had not expected Sri Lanka to pay back the loan so fast.
During the discussions, President Wickremesinghe extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for their unwavering support and assistance to Sri Lanka during challenging times.
President Wickremesinghe also met with USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
Progress of IMF Programme
The President presented a short briefing on the progress with the IMF programme, while highlighting the Government’s commitment to its successful conclusion.
Ms. Power said that USAID would continue to support Sri Lanka’s recovery efforts, while also making available necessary expertise.
Sri Lanka-Nepal ties
Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe also met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal.
During the meeting, President Wickremesinghe stated that Sri Lanka is keen to expand its longstanding relationship with Nepal into a dynamic political, trade and business partnership by diversifying the areas of cooperation.
He stated that the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka – Nepal Joint Commission that is scheduled to be held at the end of the year in Kathmandu this year, would be an important step.
Prime Minister Dahal stated that there is a close understanding and cooperation between the two countries and expressed confidence that this will be further strengthened in the coming years.
The Korean Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Association has expressed its commitment to support Sri Lanka in advancing the agriculture sector and enhancing related employment opportunities.
Additionally, the association has agreed to provide technical assistance and training resources essential for the development of the fishing industry.
These topics were highlighted during a meeting held today (13) at the Presidential Secretariat between a delegation from the Korean SME Association and officials from the President’s Office.
The discussions also focused on training Sri Lankan workers locally for Korea’s fishing industry and creating employment opportunities for them.
The delegation was led by Kim Chung Ryong, President of the Korean SME Association.
The government has announced a new initiative to issue copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates to Sri Lankans living abroad through Sri Lankan embassies, aimed at providing greater convenience to the expatriate community.
The program will be launched as a pilot project across seven selected foreign missions, including the embassies in Kuwait, Japan, and Qatar, and the consulates in Melbourne (Australia), Toronto (Canada), Milan (Italy), and Dubai (UAE).
In Sri Lanka, efforts are underway to enhance the e-BMD (electronic Birth, Marriage, and Death) database system, which is jointly managed by the Registrar General’s Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This will allow birth, marriage, and death certificates to be issued through foreign embassies, following a model already in place for obtaining certificates at Divisional Secretariat offices across Sri Lanka.
In the initial phase, only the approximately 45 million birth, marriage, and death certificates that have already been scanned and stored in the e-BMD system will be issued.
These will include records for births, marriages, and deaths that have been registered since January 1, 1960. While the majority of these records will be available, there may be occasional delays in updating certificates that have been revised after their initial entry into the database.