Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Kenya Veluppillai Kananathan presented the Letter of Credence appointing him as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Guinea with residence in Kenya, to His Excellency Mamady Doumbouya, President of Guinea at the Presidential Palace in Conakry on 11th March, 2022.
After the presentation of credentials ceremony, President Doumbouya invited the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to a brief meeting to exchange views on the status of bilateral relations and other issues of common interest. At the outset the President of Guinea said that he was delighted to receive Ambassador Kananathan as the first Ambassador from Sri Lanka presenting Credentials in Guinea and remarked it as ‘historic’ in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Kananathan conveyed the greetings and best wishes of President Gotabaya to President Doumbouya. In response, President Doumbouya thanked the Ambassador and requested him to convey his felicitations and sincere good wishes to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
After sharing views on the prospect of maintaining close relations between the two countries, the President and the Ambassador underlined the need to activate the diplomatic relations between the two countries into a performing cooperation involving promising economic activities to reach its true potential.
Ambassador Kananathan informed the President of Guinea that the Sri Lanka government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka had successfully handled the COVID-19 pandemic including the new variant in Sri Lanka with effective governance, strategy for epidemic prevention and control measures as well as inoculated more than 81% of the population against the COVID-19. President Doumbouya commended the effective and dynamic vaccination drive lead by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka and wished him every success in his efforts to swiftly revive the pandemic affected economy.
Further, Ambassador Kananathan briefed the President of Guinea on the progress achieved in addressing the post-conflict issues and the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to address all remaining issues expeditiously. He also said that the internal mechanisms established in this regard are performing well to reach the goals efficaciously. The President of Guinea responded saying that Guinea will support Sri Lanka at the multilateral forums in order to recognize Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve the identified targets to resolve the post-conflict issues.
President Mamady Doumbouya recalling Ambassador Kananathan’s connections with Guinea as an entrepreneur in Africa and his past role as Adviser on Investments to the former President of Guinea Alpha Condé, thanked him for bringing in foreign investments in maize cultivation and sugar industry through the Investment Promotion Agency of Guinea (APIP). The President further said that as Ambassador to Guinea he could bring more investments to Guinea from Sri Lanka to invest in diverse fields under the most beneficial and lucrative terms and conditions presented for FDIs in Guinea, which will create a win-win situation.
The President remarked that as a friend of Guinea who was familiar with Africa and in particular with Guinea and well-informed of the potential areas for cooperation to be developed, Ambassador kananathan had the exceptional capacity to enhance the political and economic relations between Sri Lanka and Guinea for the benefit of both countries. The meeting ended with President assuring the Ambassador Kananathan of his government’s support and wishing him good luck to achieve the identified goals and objectives in the relations between Sri Lanka and Guinea.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
Nairobi
23 March, 2022
