Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris held discussions with Secretary General Tenzin Lekphell of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on the sidelines of the 21st IORA Council of Ministers Meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh today (16/11).
Minister Peiris reiterated that Sri Lanka as the chair focused on institution building during its chairmanship and was successful in finalizing the BIMSTEC Charter and the allocation of defined areas of cooperation among member states in order to add focus to future activities of BIMSTEC. He also added that Sri Lanka is keen to hold the 5th BIMSTEC Summit in person in Colombo early next year, and the date for the meeting will be communicated in consultation with member states given the successful vaccination programme carried out in Sri Lanka to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretary General thanked the Minister for extending an invitation to visit Sri Lanka from 5th to 9th December, during which he plans to meet with high dignitaroes and line agencies to discuss lead sectors coming under the purview of Sri Lanka, including science and technology as well as innovation with the sub-sectors of health and human resource development. Minister Peiris stated that the Foreign Ministry officials have met some of the line agencies and are in the process of formulation action plans for the sectors that would benefit the region.
High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh Prof. S.D.S. Seneviratne, Acting Director General Economic Affairs (Multilateral) Anzul Jhan from the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry and Deputy High
Commissioner of Sri Lanka Ruwanthi Delpitiya
attended the meeting along with the Foreign Minister.
Foreign Ministry, Colombo, 16 November, 2021