Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ajith P Perera who is currently in The Netherlands leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the Global Conference on Cyberspace – 2015 (GCCS 2015) visited the Dutch Parliament on the sidelines of the conference on 15 April.

The meeting at the Parliament was chaired by Han Ten Boreke of the Liberal Party (VVD) who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Chair of the Defence Committee of the House of Representatives. The meeting was also attended by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee & the Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Development of the Senate representing the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy  (VVD), Socialist Party, Labour Party(PvdA), Democrats 66 and Party for Freedom (PVV) and Wathsala Amarasinghe, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Sri Lanka Embassy.

Among the issues discussed were the developments in Sri Lanka following the Presidential election held on 8 January including steps being taken to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and good governance. The Deputy Minister briefed the members of the Dutch Parliament regarding measures taken to strengthen civilian administration in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces of the country, resettlement, review of high-security zones, release of land to the people and the reconciliation and constitutional reform processes.  

Recalling the historic connections between the two countries, Deputy Minister Ajith P Perera welcomed Dutch investments especially in high- tech industries. The Government’s interest in attracting investments to the Northern and Eastern Provinces to assist in livelihood development was also discussed.

Embassy of Sri Lanka

The Hague

16th April 2015