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Your Excellency, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Foreign Minister of Nepal & Chair of the BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

At the outset, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Foreign Minister and the Government of Nepal for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality extended to me and my delegation since our arrival in the Himalayan city of Kathmandu.  I also wish to congratulate our host nation on the excellent arrangements made to ensure that this Ministerial Meeting and Summit is a resounding success.

Permit me, to felicitate you Mr Chairman for efficiently guiding BIMSTEC since assuming the Chair.  I am confident, that under your able guidance we will have a fruitful meeting. I also wish to appreciate the work of the Senior Officials for drafting an ambitious declaration, which Sri Lanka, as the next Chair looks forward to operationalise.

I am pleased to acknowledge that BIMSTEC has made significant strides in increasing cooperation among nations in the Bay of Bengal region. The key characteristic of our Organization has been the existing together of the ‘Look West’ policy of the ASEAN nations and the ‘Look East’ policy of their South Asian counterparts, thereby bridging two of the most dynamic regions in the world.  I see a considerable number of complementarities in our economies and numerous opportunities for cooperation.

Read more: Statement by Hon Vasantha Senanayake, MP, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka at the 16th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, 29 August 2018, Kathmandu

President Maithripala Sirisena will lead the Sri Lanka Delegation to the 4^th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which will be held from 30-31 August 2018 in Kathmandu.  At the conclusion of the Summit, the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Sri Lanka by the current Chair, Nepal.

The Summit, which also includes a retreat of the participating Heads of State and Government will be preceded by the Sixteenth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting and the Nineteenth Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.

The Presidents of Sri Lanka and Myanmar, the Prime Ministers of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand, and the Chief Advisor of the Government of Bhutan will be leading their respective delegations to the Summit. The leaders are to adopt the 4^th BIMSTEC Summit Declaration: "Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region" on 31 August at the conclusion of the Summit.

Read more: President Maithripala Sirisena leads Sri Lanka delegation to the 4th BIMSTEC Summit; Sri Lanka to receive BIMSTEC Chairmanship

As part of Sri Lanka’s 70^th Anniversary of Independence celebrations, the Canada-Sri Lanka Friendship Cricket Cup (CSLFCC), jointly organized by the Sri Lanka Consulate General in Toronto and the Ontario Cricket Development Organization (OCDO), was launched on 11 August 2018 at the Courtney Park Sports Complex in Mississauga. The annual event is intended to bring together cricket loving communities from Sri Lanka and other countries. The agreement to hold this annual event was arrived at a meeting attended by Mayor of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Toronto, U. L. Mohammed Jauhar, and Messrs. Derek Perera and Ranil Mendis, held on 01 May 2018 at the Mississauga Civic Centre.

Welcoming the initiative of the Consulate General and the OCDO, the Mississauga Mayor said: "Our residents love cricket! Mississauga proudly operates seven cricket pitches across the City, and the popularity of this sport only continues to grow amongst our residents. We are pleased to support the Consulate General of Sri Lanka and Ontario Cricket Development Organization as they showcase cricket in Mississauga through the celebration of Sri Lanka's 70th Anniversary of Independence"

Hon. Mayantha Dissanayake, Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka who was present at the launching, addressed the gathering, and commended the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Toronto and the OCDO for the initiative. He welcomed using sports to bring about reconciliation. He also mentioned about Sri Lanka's achievements in cricket, including the challenges that had to be faced in obtaining Test Status.

Consul General Mohammed Jauhar extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to Mayor Crombie and the OCDO for their gracious support to celebrate Sri Lanka's 70th Anniversary of Independence in Mississauga. He highlighted the inclusive role of sporting events including the game of cricket, and added that this sport, especially among the people of South Asia, transcends ethnic, religious, linguistic and other ideological differences. He referred to the Commonwealth’s peace-building initiative “Peace at the Crease” and informed that Sri Lanka had been invited to give leadership to this project in the region, particularly in harnessing youth engagement in the development process through sports.

At the opening of the exhibition match, the Mississauga Mayor led the Mississauga World Xl cricket team against Sri Lanka Consul General’s Xl, which comprised Consular Corps representatives in Toronto.

Messrs. Kaleed Rasheed and Deepak Anand, Members of Ontario Provincial Parliament, representing the Premier of Ontario were among the dignitaries present.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka

Toronto

13 August 2018

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