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Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa
Sri Lanka to take over Chair of Indian Ocean Rim Association. Ministers meet in Colombo next week
Media Release
Sri Lanka to take over Chair of Indian Ocean Rim Association. Ministers meet in Colombo next week
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as well as other senior Ministers of IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners will arrive in Sri Lanka next week for the 23rd IORA Council of Ministers which Sri Lanka is hosting on 11 October 2023 in Colombo. The Council of Ministers meeting in Colombo will see the participation of sixteen Ministers including the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, India, Iran, Mauritius, Malaysia and South Africa as well as Ministerial and senior level participation from Australia, Comoros, France, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen (member countries) and from China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Türkiye, United Kingdom and United States of America (dialogue partners). The Council of Ministers is the highest decision making body of IORA.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry will chair the Council when the current Chair, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh will hand over the chairmanship to the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.
The Council will be preceded by the 25th meeting of the Committee of IORA Senior Officials (9-10 October) which will be chaired by Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane.
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), established in 1997, is an intergovernmental organisation of States on the rim of the Indian Ocean. Its membership spans Africa, West Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and the Oceania. Today, IORA’s membership has expanded to 23 Member States and 11 Dialogue Partners. Sri Lanka will assume the chairmanship of IORA for the period 2023 to 2025 at the 23rd Council of Ministers’ Meeting.
The Ministers will deliberate on ways to cooperate on the six priority areas identified by the Association, including Trade and Investment, Maritime Safety and Security, Fisheries Management, Disaster Risk Management and Blue Economy, among others. They will be guided by recommendations to be made by the 25th Committee of IORA Senior Officials.
The Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Rim Association Dr Salman Al Farisi and the directors of the IORA Secretariat in Mauritius will also participate in the meeting.
The visiting Ministers will also make a collective call on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and hold bilateral discussions with their Sri Lankan counterpart Foreign Minister Ali Sabry as well as with other Ministers, during their stay in Sri Lanka.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo
5 October 2023
68,000 SRI LANKANS AWAITING RETURN – FOREIGN SECRETARY
Despite the worsening global situation triggered by the Covid pandemic, the process of repatriation of Sri Lankans, one of the most pressing challenges at hand has been judiciously spear headed by the Foreign Ministry under the directive of Minister Dinesh Gunawardana, enduring insurmountable challenges overseas amid lockdowns, isolations, curfews and closure of air space, to ensure swift return of Sri Lankans who are in distress.
Since the evacuation of 33 students from Wuhan City, in February 2019, the Ministry has been carrying out the task of repatriation for almost a year now and to date 60,470 Sri Lankans, composed of pilgrims, students, Officials of Government or Armed Forces, migrant workers, short term visitors, sea farers and cases on compassionate grounds have been repatriated from 137 countries by the Ministry through the Sri Lanka Missions overseas.
Over 40,000 migrant workers, predominantly from the Middle East region have been the top segment of overseas workers who have benefitted so far whereas another 20,000 Sri Lankans have been brought down from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin American regions. As the conditions abroad deteriorate and due to the large number of layoffs and other courses of unemployment, the number of prospective returnees keep rising and currently an estimated 68,000 Overseas Sri Lankans from various regions have been wait listed by the Ministry for repatriation.
The latest fortnightly schedule of flights finalized to be operated between 2-9 January 2021, will include 1400 passengers from Chennai, Melbourne, Kuwait, Doha, Canada, Cyprus and Dubai, Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage has stated.
Most importantly the Ministry and its 67 Missions continue discussions with friendly nations, UN Agencies and regional organizations and have secured as grants and donations large consignments of PCR test kits, RAT kits, test machines, lifesaving medicines, Ventilators, humidifiers and huge quantities of PPEs and face masks towards reinforcing the national Covid containment efforts which has spared the Government from incurring a huge sum of funds. The Missions are also closely following the developments with regard to manufacturing of vaccines and serving as a conduit of vital and timely information on the feasibilities of sourcing the vaccine from foreign governments.
The Ministry as measures of immediate relief, air lifted over 10,000 packs of dry rations and indigenous medicines to Male, Dubai and Doha first time in the history of Sri Lanka and has given around Rs.80 Million so far for the sustenance of our communities overseas. The funds were aimed at supplying basic medicine, testing, temporary accommodation, protective gears, internal transportation and in some cases the air tickets.
Foreign Ministry
03 January 2021
Boat and Marine Show- 2023 - 27 to 29 October 2023
Let us unite and dedicate ourselves for the betterment of our Motherland – Foreign Minister Gunawardena
It is our responsibility in the New Year 2021 to work together as Sri Lankans shedding all differences to safeguard the dignity, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka while maintaining ‘Kalyana Mithra’ friendly relations with all countries of the world, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena stated in his message for the New Year.
Everyone needs to think about how the countries in the world that are far more oppressed than our’s and have less facilities than us were able to develop faster than us. We should take examples of the political, social and economic changes that have taken place in those countries.
Pure Theravada Buddhism is a very valuable guide for the development of Sri Lanka, but it is time now for us to look back to see whether we have paid full attention to do that.
The Policy Statement ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ and the Non-Aligned Friendly Foreign Policy of the Government will help make Sri Lanka a great nation in the world. We will all work towards these goals in this New Year to protect our motherland as a sovereign state and exemplary to the future generations.
Foreign Minister Gunawardena wished that this New Year would be a happy, healthy and prosperous year for all Sri Lankans, as well all people around the world.
Foreign Ministry
Colombo
01 January 2021
Establishing connections with the Overseas Sri Lankan community
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