With a view to expanding the document attestation services provided through the Electronic Document Attestation System (e-DAS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Divisional Secretariat level, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministries of Foreign and Home Affairs on 16 August 2018.

Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Prasad Kariyawasam and Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs S.T. Kodikara signed the MoU in the presence of Minister of Home Affairs Vajira Abeywardena, during the Government Agents' Conference held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA).

The MoU will enable the expansion of the Electronic Document Attestation System to Divisional Secretariats initially  as a pilot project at the 19 Divisional Secretariats in the Galle District. The expectation is to extend the facility to all 332 Divisional Secretariats island-wide subsequently.

Connecting the Divisional Secretariats island-wide to the Electronic Document Attestation System will allow the general public to have their  required documentation processed at the nearest Divisional Secretariat, without visiting  the Consular Affairs Division in Colombo. People in the Northern Province who currently visit  the Regional Consular Office in Jaffna for this purpose too would be able to have document attestation done through their nearest Divisional Secretariats instead of the Regional Consular Office. For the pilot project, the Canadian Government has donated equipment worth Rs. 6.8 million through the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardena thanked the Canadian Government for the donation of equipment to implement the pilot project, and requested all Government Agents to extend their support to have the Electronic Document Attestation System implemented at the Divisional Secretariats in all Districts.

In his remarks, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Prasad Kariyawasam observed that the functioning of the Electronic Document Attestation System at the Divisional Secretariat level would effectively serve the community of migrant workers who annually remit a substantial amount of foreign exchange to the country.

This initiative is part of the endeavours of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to streamline, decentralize and improve Consular service delivery to the public through digitalization.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

17 August 2018