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President, Japan FM hold talks on LRT, East Terminal, Central Highway & BIA expansion (Pics)
Visiting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi has paid a courtesy call on President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo a short while ago.
During the meeting, the two dignitaries engaged in discussions concerning the bilateral relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka, with a mutual commitment to further strengthen their traditionally robust ties.
President Wickremesinghe expressed his gratitude to the Japanese Government for its support in the debt restructuring process and shared details of French President Emmanuel Macron’s offer, aiming to play a pivotal role in enhancing the common platform for debt restructuring and expediting the process.
Another significant aspect of their talks revolved around key areas of cooperation, namely the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the East Terminal, the Kandy Development Plan, Central Highway, and the expansion of the Bandaranaike International Airport.
Both parties expressed the importance of expediting the implementation of these projects.
Additionally, they delved into bilateral, regional, and global issues, emphasizing their shared commitment to maintaining the region as a peaceful and stable area.
President Wickremesinghe also highlighted the investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s high-tech industries, envisioning a transformation from a labour market-oriented economy to one that caters to cutting-edge technological advancements.
This strategic move is expected to present significant prospects for Japanese investors.
The high-level meeting took place in Colombo this morning.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi arrived in Sri Lanka on a two-day official visit last night.
The Japanese Foreign Minister was received by State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya at the Bandaranaike International Airport.
During his stay, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will also hold discussions with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi is being accompanied by Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator MURAKAMI Manabu, Director General Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs ARIMA Yutaka, Director General International Cooperation ENDO Kazuya, Deputy Press Secretary OKANO Yukiko from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan and a 22 – member delegation consisting of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
The delegation will discuss the on-going debt restructuring process and also development projects which were discussed during Ranil President Wickremesinghe’s visit to Japan in May.
The delegation will also visit one of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) sites in Sri Lanka.
This is also the first ministerial visit to Colombo from a Japanese delegation since 2019.
(NewsRadio)
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First capacity-building program under NCGG – SLIDA MoU concludes successfully
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was signed during the State Visit of President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Anura Kumara Disanayaka to India in December 2024 for training and capacity building of 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over a period of five years.
The first program under the MoU was successfully held at NCGG from 21 April to 02 May 2025, and was attended by 41 officers. Based on the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, the theme of the program was ‘digitization in governance’. The program featured a series of sessions focused on key areas such as digital service delivery, digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion through digital payments, and innovations in public grievance redressal systems. Senior officials and domain experts delivered presentations on flagship Indian initiatives in the digital domain, including Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, e-Office, GeM, Aadhaar, PM Gati Shakti, among others.
At an interaction session with participants in the inaugural program organized on 08 May 2025 at SLIDA, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, H.E. Santosh Jha underscored that capacity building is an important pillar of the development cooperation between the two countries, with Sri Lanka being among the largest recipients of scholarships and capacity building initiatives offered by India. He highlighted that, demonstrating India’s continued commitment to enhancing capacity-building opportunities for Sri Lankans, Prime Minister of India had announced additional training avenues to 700 Sri Lankan citizens annually during his recent State visit. In that context, the High Commissioner said that the participants in the first NCGG-SLIDA programme also represented the first set of Sri Lankan nationals to receive training as part of the significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India that will now benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.
The interaction session was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Mr S. Aloka Bandara; Director General of SLIDA, Mr A.V. Janadara; senior officials and faculty members of SLIDA; among others.
In view of the highly positive feedback from the participants in the inaugural NCGG-SLIDA program, based on request from SLIDA, a second program on the same theme under the MoU is now being planned for another batch of around 40 officers for early June 2025.
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First capacity-building program under NCGG – SLIDA MoU concludes successfully
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