Japan to boost human resource development in Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena thanked Japan for continuous assistance to Sri Lanka and said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on JDS human resource development scholarship scheme is yet another landmark in bilateral cooperation.

The MoU was signed by Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki, and the Secretary to Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardene in the presence of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the visiting Foreign Minister of japan Yoshimasa Hayashi at the Temple Trees today.

The Prime Minister said the high level visit from Japan to Sri Lanka was very useful in order to explore potential projects on ports, airports, railways, renewable energy, maritime cooperation and mutual efforts to heighten private sector tie ups as important areas.

He discussed with Japanese Foreign Minister on the ongoing debt restructuring process, which is co-chaired by the Japanese government, and supported by India, France and other donor countries.

The Prime Minister recalling that the previous government made a mistake in suspending the proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) project and urged Japan to have further discussion on resuming the project and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi agreed to consider to impotent it as a Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) project.

Under the MoU on JDS signed by the two countries, Japan will provide additional scholarships to Sri Lankan public servants, academics and scholars for higher studies in Japan. The programme will continue until 2025 and this year a sum of Rs 611 million has been allocated by Japan for these scholarships.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi was accompanied by a 22-member delegation that included Director General International Cooperation Kazuya Endo, Director General Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Yutaka Arima, Director, Southwest Asian Affairs, Taro Tstutsami, Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator Manabu Murakami, Principal Foreign Policy Coordinator, Manabu Murakami.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Taraka Balasuriya, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ranjith Ashoka were also present at this meeting.

Prime Minister’s Media