Consulate General of Sri Lanka, Toronto

Minister of Foreign Relations Dinesh Gunawardena assumed duties at the Foreign Ministry on Monday 25 November 2019.

Minister Gunawardena was received by Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha and other senior officials upon his arrival at the Ministry. Following religious observances, the Minister officially assumed duties.

Later, the Foreign Minister who addressed the staff, remarked that the Foreign Service is highly regarded. The Minister stressed that the entire country is looking towards the Foreign Ministry to find solutions for external pressures and challenges. Hence, it is necessary for the officers in the Ministry and the network of missions to work dedicatedly towards overcoming these challenges.  He also stated that President Rajapaksa's vision is for Sri Lanka to be safe and secure; leading the country towards a prosperous future. He further stated that in achieving these objectives, a single agency cannot work alone, but must work in unison with other institutions, and hence the role of the Foreign Ministry is vital in this aspect.

Commonwealth Secretary General Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland made a brief visit to a mangrove replanting site in Wadduwa in Koggala recently, in appreciation of the contribution Sri Lanka has made to improve its mangroves, which not only benefits Sri Lankans, but the world, in terms of increasing the carbon sequestration, which is 2 - 4 times more than tropical  forests.

Sri Lanka spearheads the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Mangrove Ecosystems and Livelihoods (MELAG) under the Commonwealth Blue Charter, calling for fair, equitable, inclusive and sustainable approach to ocean economic development and protection. Accordingly, Sri Lanka hosted the first meeting of the MELAG in early October this year, activities of which included developing a database of mangrove ecosystems, sharing technical expertise on mangrove restoration, and strengthening community partnerships and legal frameworks. This Action Group is not limited to Commonwealth countries, but to other countries, private sector and Community-based Organizations (CBOs) and research community all interested in mangrove ecosystems and livelihoods.

The first meeting of MELAG brought together experts from 09 member countries including from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as government and academic experts, private sector involved in mangrove restoration and CBOs from Sri Lanka, which is considered as a pioneering model of engagement across Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Groups, covering areas such as Oceans and Climate Change, Sustainable Aquaculture, Restoration of Coral Reefs, Ocean Observations, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Acidification, Blue Economy, Clean Ocean Alliance which addresses plastic pollution in the oceans.

Sri Lanka participated at the GIC 2019 - Food and Beverage Sector International Exhibition, which is one of the most popular professional food and beverage sector exhibitions in Canada. GIC is visited by several thousand buyers, buying agents, importers, food sector distributors, experts, wholesalers, and retailers.

The event was held in Toronto from 22 to 23 October 2019. Sri Lanka’s national participation was coordinated by the High Commission in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto together with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Export Development Board (EDB), and Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was represented at GIC 2019, by EDB together with Bio Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Food and Nature (Pvt) Ltd, Hero Nature Products (Pvt) Ltd, Kandrick Tea Beverages Lanka, Waguruwela Oil Mills (Pvt) Ltd, Samanala Natural Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Sayaladu Coco (Pvt) Ltd, and Jayalanka Suppliers

High Commissioner in Canada Asoka Girihagama and Consul General Kaplia Jayaweera graced the inaugural session and interacted with the participants. Value added food products, tea, virgin coconut oil, coconut flour, coconut protein, and biscuits were displayed at the Sri Lanka pavilion.

The Sri Lankan delegation participated at the Market Orientation Programme, which consisted of a Market Familiarization Tour prior to the exhibition, in order to explore the Canadian retail markets and consumer trends and at the information session on the Canadian market, organized by the Consulate and EDB.

B2B meetings were arranged with leading buyers such as Costco, Loblaws, Longos, and CTS in Canada during the GIC exhibition which ensured exhibitors to establish useful trade contacts and to receive orders for their products through the new business links made.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka

Toronto

 24 October 2019

Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha who is presently leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 74^th Session of the UN General Assembly, met with Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) and his team and Ms. Michéle Coninsx, Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) and Executive Director of the Counter- Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week. Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and other senior officials were associated with the Foreign Secretary.

The Secretary thanked the UN and the international community who unreservedly condemned the Easter Sunday attacks, and for supporting the Government in numerous ways. He particularly noted that the recent visit undertaken by the ASG and Executive Director of the CTED, Ms. Michéle Coninsx had provided an opportunity to draw on international best practices in consolidating domestic efforts in countering terrorism and violent extremism among the relevant stakeholders.

The Foreign Secretary briefed Mr. Voronkov on recent visits undertaken by several Ministers and counter terrorism Coordinators - from the UK, EU, the US, and Australia, as well as an expert from the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). Following the latter visit, the areas identified for immediate attention included community policing, youth engagement for social cohesion, monitoring social media, activities targeting vulnerable community hotspots and deradicalization.

Under-Secretary-General Voronkov noted work done to strengthen border management, implementation of the Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Records (PNR). In this regard, he expressed the readiness of the UN to provide further assistance to Sri Lanka in future endeavours in integrating with the API/PNR system and in countering violent extremism. He assured that his office will coordinate with the GoSL on the priorities, during an upcoming visit to Sri Lanka.

ASG Coninsx welcomed the close engagement and the high level of cooperation between CTED and Sri Lanka. Ms. Coninsx said that the UN is developing a framework for cooperation with Sri Lanka. This will include measures to be taken that would help Sri Lanka to be compliant with international counter terrorism obligations under relevant Security Council Resolutions on returning foreign terrorist fighters and countering violent extremism, as well as border security.

Secretary Aryasinha said Sri Lanka was adopting a whole-of-Government approach in addressing the areas of concern and that it was important that programmes of assistance are tangible and can be integrated within Sri Lanka’s plans. In this regard, the ASG and the Foreign Secretary agreed on the need for both GoSL and the UN to work together to identify tangible actions which will serve the interest of the country.

The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) was established through the adoption of General Assembly resolution 71/291 on 15 June 2017, to enhance coordination and coherence across the 38 Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact (former CTITF) Task Force, to strengthen counter-terrorism capacity-building assistance to Member States, and to improve visibility, advocacy and resource mobilization for United Nations counter-terrorism efforts.

The CTED was established by the UN Security Council as a special political mission to assist the UN Security Council’s Counter –Terrorism Committee (CTC), and is tasked with carrying out the policy decisions of the CTC, conduct expert assessments of Member States and facilitate counter-terrorism technical assistance to countries.

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

New York

02 October 2019

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