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Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa
Navam Maha Perahera of the Hunupitiya Gangarama Temple 5-6 February 2023
NOTICE ON REVISION OF PROCEDURE FOR INBOUND TRAVELLERS TO SRI LANKA
The procedure for inbound travellers to Sri Lanka, introduced since March 2020 is hereby revised as follows, based on the joint decision made by the Foreign Ministry, the Department of Immigration and the Civil Aviation Authority and as agreed by the Presidential Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation.
The following procedure will take effect from 26 December 2020.
- The Government of Sri Lanka (Foreign Ministry and National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) will arrange special repatriation flights for the Government quarantine facilities in coordination with Sri Lanka Missions abroad for migrant workers, students, patients, short term visa holders, government and military officials,
- i. However, Sri Lankans or Foreigners of Sri Lankan origin (Holders of Dual Citizenship) will be allowed to travel on any commercial/non-repatriation flights to Sri Lanka without the approval of the Foreign Secretary (or) Civil Aviation Authority subject to the limit of passengers per flight determined by the Civil Aviation Authority, based on concurrence/consultation of NOCPCO subject to compliance with paid quarantining at a designated hotel.
ii. It is the sole responsibility of the Airline concerned to ensure that the passengers allowed on board under the above arrangement will strictly adhere to the paid quarantine.
The revision of procedure for inbound travellers will be subject to review based on further assessments made on new guidelines.
Foreign Ministry
Colombo
21 December 2020
FOREIGN MINISTER’S MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR OF THE HOLY SEE(VATICAN) ARCHBISHOP BRIAN NGOZI UDAIGWE
Ambassador of the Holy See (Vatican) Archbishop Brian Ngozi Udaigwe called on Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Foreign Ministry recently.
Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena referred to the close and cordial relations between Sri Lanka and the Holy See and recalled the visit of Pope Francis to Sri Lanka. The Foreign Minister appreciated assistance provided by the Holy See and the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka in the field of education, poverty alleviation and social services. He also appreciated the generous development assistance provided by Caritas.
Foreign Minister Gunawardena also discussed closer cooperation between the two countries at international level on environmental issues and challenges faced by developing countries in the COVID-19 context.
The Foreign Minister informed that the Government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has taken immediate action to concurrently accredit the Sri Lanka Ambassador in Geneva to the Holy See. It was noted that since 2018 there has been no accredited Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Holy See. The Ambassador appreciated the decision of the Government to restore the concurrent accreditation.
The Foreign Minister expressed the hope that exchange of high level visits between Sri Lanka and the Vatican could take place in the future.
Foreign Ministry
Colombo
20 December 2020
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka introduces measures to reduce the overdependence on the Standing Facilities
The liquidity deficit in the domestic money market, which remained significantly high during the first half of 2022, declined in the latter part of 2022. However, in spite of the improvements in money market liquidity conditions, market interest rates continued to remain high, partly due to subdued activity in the domestic money markets. At the same time, it has been observed that several Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) have continued to depend excessively on the overnight Standing Facilities under Open Market Operations (OMOs) of the Central Bank without considering market based funding options to address their structural liquidity needs. Such LCBs have not indicated any signs of taking remedial actions to reduce the over dependence on overnight facilities offered by the Central Bank, which are available to be used as fall back options after utilizing all other funding options. Such behaviour of LCBs affects the efforts of the Central Bank to reactivate the money markets, primarily the interbank call money market and the repo market, while posing a threat to smooth channeling of funds in the economy with a possibility of clogging the payment and settlement systems.
Press Release from Central Bank of Sri Lanka
FOREIGN MINISTER DINESH GUNAWARDENA HIGHLIGHTS SRI LANKA’S INITIATIVES UNDER E-GOVERNANCE AND CYBER SECURITY AT THE GLOBAL BUSINESS SUMMIT 2020
Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was invited by the Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu to represent Sri Lanka at the Global Business Summit 2020 on 16 December 2020. The summit was co-hosted by the Governments of Estonia and the United Arab Emirates.
Addressing the Summit under e-Governance and Cyber Security, Foreign Minister Gunawardena highlighted that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has envisioned a people-centric and knowledge-driven new beginning for Sri Lanka, recognizing that the 21st Century was defined by knowledge and innovation. The Foreign Minister provided an overview of Sri Lanka’s digital government architecture designed to address the needs of multiple layers of customers whilst ensuring that such services were effective, transparent and corruption, free. He noted that work was already underway to develop the Unique Digital ID relating to biographic and biometric data, the centerpiece of a citizen- centric digital regime, earmarked for completion by mid - 2021. Services covered by e-governance would be in the education, health, transportation, immigration and emigration, registration of persons and companies, motor traffic, income tax and local government sectors. He also underlined that e-governance, e-commerce and e-medicine and such digitalization, would define the ‘New Normal’ in the post COVID-19 global landscape.
Highlighting that Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to become a state party to the Budapest Cybercrime Convention, Minister Gunawardena shared that the Sri Lanka Centre for Cyber Security (CERT) in consultation with ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has issued mandatory Cyber Security Guidelines for Work From Home (WFH), as the transition had led to a surge in cyber-attacks, phishing scams and such malicious activity. CERT and ICTA continued to monitor and strengthen its Cyber Security eco system through international cooperation, while partnering with foreign governments and agencies to build capacity and create a competent cyber security workforce, both in the public and private sectors.
The Global Business Summit 2020 brought together Governments and businesses to find solutions to the complex global challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Keynote addresses were made by co-hosts, Foreign ministers Urmas Reinsalu of Estonia and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyanof the United Arab Emirates, WHO Director General Dr. TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus, Rt. Hon. Tony Blair-Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and former UK Prime Minister, among others. The virtual conference was viewed by around 30,000 worldwide, with the participation of high level dignitaries from Japan, Spain, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Hungary, Singapore, Poland and forty countries in total.
Video Link : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wMEMsx9Dfik
Foreign Ministry
Colombo
20 December 2020
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