Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Romania Cornel Feruţă held virtual bilateral Foreign Office consultations on 16 December 2020.  A new roadmap for enhanced cooperation in prioritized sectors between Sri Lanka and Romania was identified at the third session of the Sri Lanka-Romania bilateral consultations.

The head of delegation of Sri Lanka and Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, announced the opening of a Sri Lanka Embassy in Romania next year and reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to further consolidate the excellent bilateral engagement spanning sixty three years since 1957. Foreign Secretary Colombage also provided an overview of the economic and development priorities of the new Government, and highlighted the envisioned people-centric and knowledge-driven new beginning for Sri Lanka recognizing that the 21st Century was defined by knowledge and innovation.

Focusing on cooperation in the labour sector, State Secretary Feruţă stated that despite the pandemic Romania has continued to issue work permits to skilled and semi skilled workers from Sri Lanka. He stated that only this week 1,500 new work permits have been issued. There are currently over 8,000 Sri Lankan workers in Romania employed predominantly in the apparel, hospitality and construction sectors, with more skilled job opportunities opening up in other fields such as IT.  State Secretary Cornel Feruţă further stated that the economic stimulus offered by the Romanian Government to workers in Romania had also been extended to cover foreign workers.

The discussions were wide ranging and substantive, and reviewed bilateral interests and ongoing programmes in the political, economic, education, energy, agriculture, labour, security, education and social areas. Both sides agreed to revitalize and expand the bilateral trade and investment portfolio to fully avail of the EU GSP+ facility and access the wider markets in Central Europe and Asia, respectively. Technical assistance in locomotive rehabilitation and production, capacity building to address skill gaps in the oil and gas sector and agri processing, were identified for further cooperation. The talks also reviewed shared interests in the regional and multilateral areas.

Senior officials representing Ministry of Buddhasana, Religious & Cultural Affairs, Department of Labour, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, Department of Commerce and Foreign ministry, including Ambassador Victor Chiujdea of the Embassy of Romania in Colombo participated.

Foreign Ministry
Colombo

19 December 2020

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena leading the Sri Lanka delegation thanked  all Member States for placing their confidence in Sri Lanka when  its  application for  the position  of Vice Chair  was endorsed at 20th Council of Ministers (CoM) Meeting  virtually hosted by the United Arab Emirates today (17/12). Sri Lanka thereafter is expected to take over the Chair for the year 2023 to 2025.

The CoM was preceded by the 22nd Session of the Committee of Senior Officials (CoS) on 15 and 16 December 2020.  The Sri Lanka delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage.

Addressing the Member States, Foreign Minister informed that Sri Lanka,  strongly believes   that only a safe, secure and peaceful Indian Ocean can bring about economic prosperity and that this notion emanates from Sri Lanka’s commitment to promote the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. He added that, only continuous commitment and collaborative efforts of all Member States and Dialogue Partners could   only help achieve and uphold this UN Resolution.

Further, the Minister stated that Sri Lanka during its tenure wishes to promote, track 1 and 1.5 interactions with Member States to share experiences and expertise including best practices and a gathering of Parliamentarian friendship group so that there would be a platform for interaction on IORA priority and focus areas.

He also added that, since 2018, Sri Lanka as the Coordinator of the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, has dedicated its efforts to ensuring that there is greater connectivity via knowledge and experience sharing through the Work Plan adopted at the Working Group Meeting held in Colombo in August 2019.

Sri Lanka is expected to host the Blue Economy Conference in the second half of 2021 and also undertake a study on identifying bottle necks to maritime trade in the IORA region. Sri Lanka also indicated its interest to join the IORA Cluster Group on Fisheries Management (CGFM). Sri Lanka is also member of the IORA cluster groups; Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Blue Economy (BE) and Tourism and Cultural Exchanges (TCE).

The Sri Lanka delegation comprised of Additional Secretary P.M Amza, Director General Ocean Affairs, Environment and Climate Change, Hasanthi Dissanayake, Actg. Director General Economic Affairs (Multilateral) Anzul Jhan and Development Officer Inoka  Dharmadasa of the  Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Ministry

Colombo

17 December 2020