The ‘Future-Ready Youth Leadership Programme’ at the National Centre for Leadership Development in Embilipitiya, a historical event in the history of the University System of Sri Lanka, which began on March 10 with the participation of over 250 Vavuniya University students concluded successfully on 16thMarch.

Prof. Shanti NandanaWijeysinghe, Member, Standing Committee for Social Reconciliation, University Grants Commission, Chairman, Education, Research and Training, Centre for Social Reconciliation, University of Vavuniya, and Member, Presidential Task Force, addressed the gathering.

The event was the first leadership workshop for university students and was heldat the National Centre for Leadership Development under the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“After 30-years of conflict, there has been no complete social reconciliation in the community. So, it is possible to prepare future leaders through national unity by bringing about reconciliation at the community level,” Professor Wijesinghe said.

“The first Social Reconciliation Centre was inaugurated by the President at the University of Vavuniya on February 11 when the 17th University of Sri Lanka, University of Vavuniya. “

The Social Reconciliation Centre to be set up in all Sri Lankan universities covers areas such as education, research and training. In addition, the university will start a program to improve the education of students who are unable to enter the courses and issue relevant certificates, which will help to further improve higher education for youth. It is noteworthy that theseCentres will be established in all the universities in Sri Lanka.”

“Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim students from the University of Vavuniya are also participating in the one-weektraining on leadership, empowerment, entrepreneurship and reconciliation. I hope this training will prepare them for the challenging world and move forward with leadership to break down the barriersincluding ethnicity, religion, caste and class.”

“Our goal is to develop Sri Lankan youthas global leaders in keeping with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the Centres for Social Reconciliation. There are several programmes including Diploma/BA/Masters in Peace and Development Studies, and Certificate Courses in Women in Politics and in Media. Sri Lanka’s university system teaches perspectives, theory and concepts but not the skills to practically apply them. Soft skills are not developed through university education. We expect to address these deficiencies through the projects conducted by the Social Reconciliation Centres.”

The government has et up a Department of ICT in all the Faculties of Arts equipped with Computer Labs, Human Resources, Broadband Internet facilities and other infrastructure facilities.

It has established Social Reconciliation Centres (SRC) at all universities together with a Standing Committee on Social Reconciliation at the UGC.

These steps were taken to convert the prevailing negative peace with doubts, prejudices, fear and mistrust to positive peace where all would have access to equal opportunities and resources.

These changes have been made to meet the challenges as Asia prepares to take over global power by the year 2050 as Sri Lanka has the potential to give leadership to the socio-economic and political revival in Asia. A situation that is expected to be consolidated by the year 2100.”

The first-ever visit of a 17 member high-level Omani business delegation to Sri Lanka from the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), organized by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman from 5 to 9 March 2022, has successfully concluded. The high-level business delegation was led by the Chairman of the OCCI,Eng. Redha Bin Juma Al Saleh, whois the sole representative of the entire private sector of Oman. Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Sultanate of Oman Ameer Ajwad received the delegation at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Sri Lanka and accompanied the delegation on their visit. 

The purpose of the visit was to explore opportunities available in trade and investment between Sri Lanka and the Sultanate of Oman and to establish business links between the private sectors of the two countries. 

The delegation paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, briefed him on the progress made during their visit and expressed their keen interest in closer economic engagement with Sri Lanka. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Gabral and Secretary to the Prime Minister AnuraDissanayake were also present during the meeting. 

The delegation also had productive meetings with the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Trade Minister BandulaGunawardena, Labour Minister NimalSiripala de Silva together with State Minister of Foreign Employment Promotionand Market Diversification PriyankaraJayaratneas well as State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya during the visit. A range of areas of mutual interest including promotion of trade, investment, tourism, employment opportunities were discussed. The Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Sri Lanka Sheikh Juma Hamdan Al Shehhi also participated in the meetings

Members of the Omani delegation who represented Omani manpower recruitment agencies met with the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment ( SLBFE) and discussed issues relating to Sri Lankan labour recruitment in Oman and agreed to increase employment opportunities under Government-regulated   arrangements. 

One of the highlights of the visit was the Business Forum followed by B2B meetings held between the visiting Omani delegation and their Sri Lankan counterparts, organized by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL ) at the Chamber Auditorium in Colombo. A large number of Sri Lankan companies participated during the B2B meetings. Ambassador Ameer Ajwad, President of the NCCSL Nandika Bhuddipala,  Chairman of the OCCI Eng. Redha Al Salih addressed the Business Forum. Presentations by the Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI) as well as the Colombo Port City were made during the Forum, highlighting the opportunities available for investments in Sri Lanka. The Chairpersons of the NCCSL and the OCCI physically signed the MoU, which was virtually signed in July last year, between the two Chambers for the promotion of business between the two countries. A Letter of Intent (LoI) between Sri Lanka’s popular Ayurvedic company, Siddhalepa (Pvt) Ltd and  Oman’s Lama Poly Clinic LLC  was signed introducing Siddhalepa Ayurvedic products and services in the Sultanate of Oman. 

The Omani business delegation had a fruitful meeting with the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation (STC) and discussed ways and means for trading between Sri Lanka’s State sector and Oman’s private sector. During the meeting with the Director General of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the Omani business delegation was briefed on different investment opportunities in the tourism sector in Sri Lanka and it was proposed to organize joint programmes for tourism promotion between the two countries.  BOI Executive Director of Katunayake Export Processing Zone made a presentation to the visiting Omani business delegation on the BOI operations and opportunities available for investment in Sri Lanka.

The Omani business delegation also met with the President of Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and explored opportunities for collaboration in the ICT & BPM sectors. The delegation also interacted with the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka and both sides exchanged information about doing business in both countries. The members of the delegation also met with the Chairman of the Coconut Research Board as well as representatives from the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellry Association. 

During the visit, the Omani delegation also undertook field visits to the factories of companies of popular Sri Lankan brands such Akbar Brother’s Tea Packing Centre, SMAK Food Processing Factory, Isabella Apparel Factory at Katunayake Free Trade Zone and Siddhalepa Ayurveda Hospital at Dehiwala -Mount Lavinia. The delegation also visited the Colombo Port City project, Sri Lanka’s new special economic zone reclaimed from the sea. 

State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya hosted an official dinner in honour of the visiting OCCI high-level delegation at Waters Edge, Sri Lanka. 

The members of the delegation included OCCI Board member and Chairman of the Committee on Services and Information Technology Ali Hamdan Al Ajmi, Board member and the Chairman of South A Sharqia Governorate Anwar Hamed Said Al Sinani,  Chairpersons and CEOs of leading Omani private sector companies His Highness Khalid Mohamed Salim Al Saeed as well as Chairpersons and CEOs of leading Omani private sector companies in different sectors including construction, consultancy, medical services, food supply, advertising services, manufacturing of medical equipment, fruits & vegetables, food supply, garments, building material, electronics, manpower supply, conference management etc. 

The high-level visit by the Omani business delegation to Sri Lanka was coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Regional Cooperation of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Oman. 

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Muscat

16 March, 2022

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Japan with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Tea Board showcased “Ceylon Tea” at the Foodex Japan 2022, the 47th International Food and Beverage Exhibition held in Tokyo, Japan which consisted of over 1400 food related stalls.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan, Sanjiv Gunasekara participated at the Foodex Japan opening ceremony, represented by Ambassadors of over 25 countries, and inaugurated the Sri Lanka Tea pavilion. Guests at the pavilion included the General Manager of Purchasing for MOS Burger Franchise which operates over 1700 restaurants worldwide.

The Sri Lanka pavilion included Dilmah Tea, George Stewarts Tea, Nelsons – Ranfur Tea, Jafferjee Brothers – Jaf Tea, Ceyem Tea and several stalls of theSri Lanka Tea Board.All exhibitors made live interactive presentations of their many products. Multiple Business to Business Meetings took place and over 600 inquiries were received during the four days the exhibition by prospective retail chains, restaurants and distributors.

The Tea Board stall hosted by the staff of the Sri Lanka Mission in Japan along with Japanese volunteers provided continuous tea tasting opportunities and educated visitors about “Ceylon Tea”. First Secretary (Commercial) Kapila J. Kumara coordinated the event.

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Tokyo

16 March, 2022

The Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union made a request to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking the issuance of essential consumer items at the prices declared in January, 2020 for low income families.

In the wake of the economic crisis withe the tragic deterioration of forex crisis, the Union urged the President to present to the people in detail the government’s remedial measures in temporarily managing the forex crisis till the end of the year and its proposed long-term programme in solving the crisis permanently, provide all households with less than Rs. 75,000 per month income , a ration including fuel, kerosene, LP gas, bread, wheat flour, rice, sugar and Mysore dhal at 2020 January prices for at least a year, besides the demand for increase of wages by private sector trade unions, meeting the responsibility of the government in ensuring food security and daily needs of all people and provide the fishing industry with subsidised fuel for boats through fisheries co-operatives.

MIAP

Deputy High Commissioner, Shri Vinod K. Jacob spoke at the presentation on Ramayana Trails organised by Sri Lanka – India Society and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau at Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Colombo on 10th March 2022.

2.     In his remarks, Deputy High Commissioner highlighted the strong people to people and cultural ties between India and Sri Lanka. In this connection, he mentioned the establishment of the air bubble arrangement between India and Sri Lanka in April 2021, holding of the third Joint Working Group Meeting on Tourism and the inaugural flight from Sri Lanka to Kushinagar airport in October 2021.

3.      India is ready to welcome tourists again and considers Sri Lanka as an important source market for tourism. To encourage tourism, Government of India had recently suspended the RT-PCR test requirement for travellers who are fully vaccinated and announced the resumption of international commercial flights from 27th March 2022. He noted that despite the COVID related restrictions in 2021, 1.94 lakh tourists arrived in Sri Lanka, out of which 56,268 were from India which translates into about 29% of total arrivals. However, it was highlighted that efforts should be made by the Sri Lankan side to increase these numbers.

4.       Deputy High Commissioner said that in the last two months, 7,682 tourists from Sri Lanka had visited India, while 196 had travelled for medical purposes. The objective of reaching the record of 3 lakh tourists to India in 2019 should be pursued. He also said that it was a good time for Sri Lankans in all walks of life to benefit from opportunities available in India; and in this regard, referred to examples of Sri Lankan cricketers in the Indian Premier League, artists in Bollywood and other creative personalities and investors.

5. The programme included presentation to audience on prominent sites linked with Ramayana in Sri Lanka, which would be of interest to Indian tourists.

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Colombo
11 March 2022