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It is indeed an honour to participate in the 74^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) representing Sri Lanka. H.E. Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, regrets very much his inability to have attended this Session.

Permit me to warmly congratulate H.E. Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the 74^th session of the UNGA, on his election. Undoubtedly his longstanding experience will guide the work of this august assembly to a successful conclusion. Let me also thank the outgoing President H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés for successfully conducting the work of the last session.

I wish to extend Sri Lanka’s appreciation to Secretary-General António Guterres for his sagacious leadership and untiring efforts in achieving the objectives of the United Nations.

Conference Theme

Mr. President,

The theme of this year’s General Debate is both timely and significant, as we strive to build a world of peace and prosperity, by eradicating extreme poverty, ensuring access to quality education and striving to respond to climate change and promoting inclusion. As we complete the first cycle of reviews of the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda, it is clear that we have made substantial progress in achieving the SDGs. Yet, the end of the road is a long way off, with increasingly devastating impacts of climate change threatening to reverse these gains and impede our path to development.

Sri Lanka reiterates its strong commitment to climate related global initiatives. Sri Lanka endorses the clear message of the Climate Action Summit held last week at this very venue that – we are on the brink of a climate emergency.  It is imperative to strengthen our collective political will and accelerate global action in stalling its emergence.

Mr. President,

The multitude of challenges brought about the climate change – including direct implications on food security, has also lead to forced and unplanned displacement. Inequality driven push factors, aggravated by climate change, have a definitive negative bearing on individuals and communities, forcing them to leave their usual habitats, resulting in mass scale migration of people.

Having adopted the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) – a voluntary framework for governing migration in a manner that it is safe, orderly, regular and responsible, it is now time for us to ensure its implementation.

Climate change has also exacerbated the global phenomena of poverty, undermining human dignity and remaining as one of the greatest threats to the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Development Agenda.  Sri Lanka remains committed to the international efforts on poverty eradication, and welcomes the declaration of “The Third UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty 2018-2027” through resolution 72/233. The alleviation of poverty has been at the heart of Sri Lanka’s development strategies for decades.

Mr. President,

Quality education remains the key to social progress and economic empowerment. Sri Lanka greatly values quality education, as a means of eradicating poverty and achieving progress. We have a longstanding policy of providing universal and free education at primary and secondary levels since 1945, many decades before the introduction of the MDGs and SDGs.  The policy ensures that people of all walks of life have equal access to quality education, which has borne fruit. Today, Sri Lanka’s literacy rate stands at 92%, one of the highest in the world.

Challenge to Multilateralism

Mr. President,

As we persevere in these efforts to reverse the negative trends, our ability in addressing global challenges have been compromised in recent times by the increasing threat to multilateralism.

As the UN approaches its 75^th anniversary next year, this is an excellent opportunity to assess its successes and failures including its engagement with Member States. Partnerships fostered between Member States and the UN, over seven decades based on trust and equity must not be compromised and allowed to be hijacked by actors accountable to none and with selective political agendas. With change in the landscape of global politics, particularly with the emergence of non-state actors, as an organization composed of and driven by sovereign Member States, it is vital, that primacy and respect be given to decisions taken by member states, regarding essentially domestic matters.

In this context, our quest to strengthen the work of the UN General Assembly through its revitalization process is extremely important to ensure that it remains relevant as the main deliberative and policy making organ of the United Nations. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the UN policy implementers to refrain from being misled by entities with vested interests. The UN must also desist from making decisions without a valid consultative process, as its work has to be always member state driven. Failure to do so will not only vilify this august body and negate the values that it represents, but will also break the trust of Member States, jeopardizing the partnership with the UN.

Mr. President,

Sri Lanka’s commitment to disarmament remains steadfast. With the increasing challenges to global arms control, disarmament and non- proliferation regimes, Sri Lanka continues to recognize the pivotal role of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), and urges the resumption of substantive negotiations under its mandate. Decision CD/2119 adopted in February 2018 under Sri Lanka’s presidency of the CD was a modest contribution towards bridging different viewpoints, focusing on the early resumption of negotiations. We see value in the continuation of this process.

Additionally, in the recent years, Sri Lanka acceded to a number of disarmament treaties, including the Ottawa Convention. Sri Lanka has also presided over the States Parties Meetings on the Conventions on Certain Conventional Weapons and also that on Cluster Munitions.

The 2020 NPT Review Conference will also provide an opportunity for Member States to deliver on its commitments, as the Treaty marks the 50^th anniversary of entry into force next year.

Sri Lanka has been contributing to the UN Peacekeeping efforts since 1960 serving in the Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, South Sudan, Timor and Western Sahara, demonstrating our commitment to global peace and security. We look forward to enhancing our contribution towards a more secure and peaceful world, and obstacles must not be placed on Sri Lanka’s long standing Peacekeeping contribution to the UN.

Given Sri Lanka’s experience of the recent past in low and high intensity conflicts with terrorist groups, few countries can qualitatively match the troops sent by Sri Lanka who have extensive professional experience in all aspects of peacekeeping and providing humanitarian assistance. I take this opportunity to express gratitude to their contribution, and wish to particularly remember the three soldiers Corporal M. Wijesinghe who made the ultimate sacrifice in Haiti in 2005 and Captain H.W.D. Jayawickrama and Corporal S.S. Wijekumara in Mali early this year.

Mr. President,

Sri Lanka is concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Palestine territory including East Jerusalem, where the continuing expansion of settlements across the occupied West Bank is causing increased demolition of homes.

While restating Sri Lanka’s consistent and principled position that the Palestinian people have a legitimate and inalienable right to the natural resources in their territory and to statehood, we further recognize the legitimate and sensitive security concerns of both the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples. In this context, Sri Lanka reiterates the importance of the early implementation of the UN General Assembly resolutionsregarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to statehood and the attainment of the two-State solution on the basis of the 1967 borders.

Development & Peace

Mr. President,

There can be no development without peace.  Peace is a catalyst for stability, inclusivity and socio-economic growth. For nearly 30 years, my country was one of the worst affected by separatist terrorism, long before ‘the fight against terrorism’ became an international buzz phrase. With the defeat of terrorism in Sri Lanka in 2009, for nearly a decade we experienced an unprecedented ‘peace dividend’.

However, on 21 April – Easter Sunday – this peace was shattered by a heinous terrorist attack in Sri Lanka which took the lives of over 250 of our citizens and foreign nationals, and injured hundreds. This was an act of radical extremist terrorists who were inspired by and claimed allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

This challenged the pluralistic society in Sri Lanka that had zealously guarded the normalization, reconciliation and development process, arduously rebuilt since the end of the separatist terrorist conflict in the country. Despite the attempts of these terrorists to destroy the country’s social fabric, the resilience and trust between our communities and the law enforcement authorities ensured that citizens themselves warned of impending attacks and assisted in apprehending the culprits.

This incident also reminded us that no country is immune to the bane of radicalization, extremism and terrorism. It has reaffirmed our resolve to fight these global menaces, and urge all countries to work in collaboration to address the root causes.

We thank the UN Secretary-General and our friends in the international community who unreservedly condemned the Easter Sunday attacks and supported the Government of Sri Lanka in numerous ways.

Terrorism & protecting human rights

Mr. President

The events of the Easter Sunday bombing also taught us that ‘fighting terrorism’ must go hand in hand with ‘protecting human rights’: one cannot be compromised for the other. This very delicate balance has often been elusive – with states veering towards one extreme or the other, applying double standards to similar situations and often politicizing these issues.

We as a nation have found ourselves up to the task of overcoming the challenges posed by the violent extremism on Easter Sunday. The citizenry was secured within a relatively short period of time, and law and order restored; our institutions asserted themselves, each in their role to ensure that people, communities and society as a whole, were able to feel safe again.

Therefore, the post Easter attack period has proved to be a ‘litmus test’ to Sri Lanka’s resolve to adhere to human rights standards, while fighting terrorism, and also determine the strengths and shortcomings of the democratic institutions that have been strengthened in recent years. In this context, a Ministerial Committee headed by Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, has been established by Cabinet to study and propose amendments to the draft counter terrorism legislation currently under consideration by the Parliament. Conscious of our international obligations, Sri Lanka is also consulting with partners in striving to bring about domestic enabling legislation that would make us compliant with more recent Security Council resolutions on combatting terrorism – relating to terrorist financing, border security, returning terrorist fighters and countering violent extremism.
Efforts are also underway to curb the terrorists’ use and abuse of the internet and social media platforms, including by evolving legislative measures and law enforcement mechanisms to counter radical ideologies leading to violent extremism.

In this context, it is necessary to develop the critical thinking capacity of youth, strengthen community bonds, inculcate a sense of civic duty, and build community resilience to mitigate the effects and influences of extremist ideologies conducive to terrorism that may escape the eye of law enforcement authorities. In this regard, the role of the community and its resilience against local drivers of extremism is essential in preventing violent extremism.
The recovery over the past five months demanded that we be resolute in governance. If we are to truly overcome these challenges, we must move to incorporating a ‘Whole of Society’ approach to that with a ‘Whole of Government’ approach. .

Human Rights &Reconciliation

Mr. President,

As Sri Lanka steps into the second decade since the end of its internal armed separatist conflict, we remain committed to promote and protect the human rights of our people through a comprehensive process that would deliver permanent peace to our country.

Recent Events have also reaffirmed the independence of our Judiciary, as well as the resilience of our democratic institutions, including the public service. These events also concretize our public’s trust in democracy and the rule of law, and despite numerous challenges, the country has progressed in its course towards reconciliation and durable peace

In this context, I am happy to note that there has been significant progress in addressing the many facets arising from the conflict. The Offices on Missing Persons and also on Reparations are now fully operational. The Cabinet of Ministers is also discussing the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sri Lanka has maintained a constructive and continuous engagement with the UN including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Human Rights mechanisms, where since the standing invitation of 2015, Sri Lanka has received 10 special procedure mandate holders and working groups.

Independent Institutions also play a critical role in this regard, and it is encouraging to note that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, was re-accredited with the ‘A’ status by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in May 2018.

Mr. President,

You would agree, that these are not simple steps for a country to take, especially when it had suffered through a 30 year long conflict.

Promoting a peaceful, just and reconciled society is not only an objective itself, but also a pre-requisite for a sustainable and inclusive approach to development that leaves no one behind. Each country has its own unique post conflict situation. While we can learn from other experiences, in charting our own path to reconciliation we are committed to find innovative and pragmatic solutions to protect the country’s national interest and the well-being of all Sri Lankans,guided by the provisions of the Constitution.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate Sri Lanka’s commitment to a rules-based global order. We value the spirit of multilateralism and cooperation. Even though humanity faces numerous challenges, I am confident that we are well within our capability to address these in a collective, constructive and cooperative manner for the betterment of all, and our future generations.

I thank you.

Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha, Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York H.E. Mrs. Kshenuka Senewiratne and the Sri Lanka Delegation at 74th United Nations General Assembly on 30 September 2019

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the guidance of Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, conducted an Integrated Consular Mobile Service [ICMS], for the eighth time this year, with the assistance of the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat at the District Secretariat on Saturday, 14 September 2019. The Ministry had previously conducted ICMS in Trincomalee, Kandy, Kurunegala, Dambulla, Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Mannar.

During the mobile services, the Foreign Minister and Director General of Consular Affairs of the Ministry Mr. U. L. Mohammed Jauhar, heard the grievances of the general public and directed relevant officials to address them. The Ministry of Foreign Employment, the Department of Immigration & Emigration, the Registrar General’s Department and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, along with the officials of the Consular Affairs Division of the Ministry, took part at the ICMS.

Services provided to the people of these districts and adjacent areas include attestation of documents for the purpose of foreign employment and education, assistance to the families of Sri Lankans who are stranded and detained abroad, registration of births, marriages, deaths occurred overseas, assistance with regard to compensation related issues, and assistance to obtain police clearance certificates from foreign countries.

The Ministry also participated at mobile services held under the ‘Rata Wenuwen Ekata Sitimu’ national programme this year in Ampara, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Monaragala, Divulapitiya and Jaffna. Mr. Ravinatha Aryasinha, Secretary, Foreign Affairs was present at the mobile service held under this programme in Divulapitiya, visited the Ministry stall and participated at the Progress Review Meeting chaired by the President.

Mobile services were also conducted by the Ministry this year under ‘Rajya Sewaya Gamata Gena Yana Janatha Sewaya’ national programme in Matale and the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ programme held in Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය මගින් නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මෙහෙයවන ලද 8 වැනි සමෝධානික කොන්සියුලර් ජංගම සේවය අවසන් වේ

විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය ගරු තිලක් මාරපන මැතිතුමාගේ මාර්ගෝපදේශකත්වය යටතේ, නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ ද සහය ඇතිව විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් මෙම වර්ෂයේ දී අටවැනි වරටත් සමෝධානික කොන්සියුලර් ජංගම සේවයක් 2019 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 14 වැනි දින නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ දී පවත්නා ලදී. මීට පෙර විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් ත්‍රිකුණාමලය, මහනුවර, කුරුණෑගල, දඹුල්ල, අනුරාධපුර, පුත්තලම සහ මන්නාරම යන දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල සමෝධානික කොන්සියුලර් ජංගම සේවා පවත්වා ඇත.

මෙම ජංගම සේවා අතරතුර දී, විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයා සහ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ කොන්සියුලර් අංශයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් යූ.එල්. මොහොමඩ් ජවුහර් මහතා විසින් මහජනතාවගේ දුක්ගැනවිලිවලට සවන් දී, ඒවාට විසඳුම් ලබා දෙන ලෙස අදාළ නිලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් ලබා දෙන ලදී. අමාත්‍යංශයේ කොන්සියුලර් අංශයේ නිලධාරීන් සමඟ, විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශය, ආගමන විගමන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් ජනරාල් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය ද සමෝධානික  කොන්සියුලර් ජංගම සේවයට සහභාගි විය.

මෙම දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල සහ අවට ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාව වෙත සපයනු ලබන සේවාවන් අතරට, විදේශ රැකියා සහ අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු සඳහා ලේඛන සහතික කිරීම, විදේශ රටවල අතරමංව සහ රැඳවුම් භාරයේ සිටින ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ගේ පවුල්වලට සහය ලබා දීම, විදේශ රටවලදී සිදු වූ උපත්, විවාහ හා මරණ ලියාපදිංචි කිරීම, වන්දි ලබා දීම පිළිබඳ ගැටළු සම්බන්ධයෙන් සහය වීම සහ විදේශ රටවලින් පොලිස් නිෂ්කාශන වාර්තා ලබා ගැනීමට සහාය වීම යනාදිය ද ඇතුළත් වේ.

 ‘රට වෙනුවෙන් එකට සිටිමු’ යන ජාතික වැඩසටහන යටතේ මෙ‍ම වසරේ දී අම්පාර, මඩකලපුව, මුලතිව්, මොණරාගල, දිවුලපිටිය සහ යාපනය යන ප්‍රදේශවලදී පවත්වන ලද ජංගම සේවාවන් සඳහා ද මෙම අමාත්‍යාංශය සහභාගී විය. මෙම වැඩසටහන යටතේ දිවුලපිටියේ දී පැවැත්වූ ජංගම සේවයට සහභාගී වූ විදේශ කටයුතු ලේකම් රවිනාථ ආර්යසිංහ මහතා, අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ප්‍රදර්ශන කුටිය නැරඹීමෙන් අනතුරුව අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවති ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචන රැස්වීමට ද සහභාගී විය.

මෙ‍ම වසරේ දී මාතලේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ පැවැති ‘රාජ්‍ය සේවය ගමට ගෙන යන ජනතා සේවය’ ජාතික වැඩසටහන සහ අනුරාධපුරයේ දී සහ යාපනයේ දී පවත්වන ලද ‘එන්ටර්ප්‍රයිස් ශ්‍රී ලංකා’ වැඩසටහන යටතේ ද මෙම අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් ජංගම සේවාවන්  පවත්වන ලදී.

வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சின் தலைமையிலான 8 வது ஒருங்கிணைந்த நடமாடும் கொன்சியூலர் சேவை நுவரெலியா  மாவட்டத்தில் இடம்பெற்றது

வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் திலக் மாரப்பன அவர்களின் வழிகாட்டுதலின் கீழ், ஒருங்கிணைந்த நடமாடும் கொன்சியூலர் சேவையானது நுவரெலியா மாவட்ட செயலகத்தின் உதவியுடன் வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சினால் இந்த ஆண்டில் எட்டாவது தடவையாக 2019 செப்டம்பர் 14 ஆந் திகதி சனிக்கிழமை மாவட்ட செயலகத்தில் நடைபெற்றது. இதற்கு முன்னர் அமைச்சு ஒருங்கிணைந்த நடமாடும் கொன்சியூலர் சேவைகளை திருகோணமலை, கண்டி, குருநாகல், தம்புள்ளை, அனுராதபுரம், புத்தளம் மற்றும் மன்னார் ஆகிய இடங்களில் நடாத்தியுள்ளது.

நடமாடும் சேவைகளின் போது, வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் மற்றும் அமைச்சின் கொன்சியூலர் விவகாரங்களுக்கான பணிப்பாளர் நாயகம் திரு. யு.எல். முகம்மத் ஜவுஹர் ஆகியோர் பொது மக்களின் குறைகளைக் கேட்டறிந்து, அவற்றுக்கான தீர்வுகளை வழங்குமாறு சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அதிகாரிகளுக்கு பணிப்புரை வழங்கினர். வெளிநாட்டு வேலைவாய்ப்பு அமைச்சு, குடிவரவு மற்றும் குடியகல்வுத் திணைக்களம், பதிவாளர் நாயகத் திணைக்களம் மற்றும் இலங்கை வெளிநாட்டு வேலைவாய்ப்பு பணியகம் ஆகியன அமைச்சின் கொன்சியூலர் அலுவல்கள் பிரிவின் அதிகாரிகளுடன் இணைந்து இந்த ஒருங்கிணைந்த நடமாடும் கொன்சியூலர் சேவையில் பங்குபற்றியிருந்தன.

இந்த மாவட்டங்கள் மற்றும் அதன் அண்மித்த பகுதிகளைச் சேர்ந்த மக்களுக்கு வழங்கப்பட்ட சேவைகளில், வெளிநாட்டு வேலைவாய்ப்பு மற்றும் கல்வி போன்ற தேவைகளுக்காக ஆவணங்களை சான்றுறுதிப்படுத்தல், வெளிநாடுகளில் கைவிடப்பட்ட மற்றும் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் இலங்கையர்களின் குடும்பங்களுக்கு உதவிகளை வழங்குதல், வெளிநாடுகளில் நிகழ்ந்த பிறப்புக்கள், திருமணங்கள் மற்றும் இறப்புக்களை பதிவு செய்தல், இழப்பீடுகளுடன் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட பிரச்சினைகள் தொடர்பான உதவி மற்றும் வெளிநாடுகளில் இருந்து பொலிஸ் தடைநீக்கச் சான்றிதழ்களைப் பெறுவதற்கான உதவி ஆகியன உள்ளடங்குகின்றன.

இந்த வருடத்தில்,  ‘ரட வெனுவென் எக்கட சித்திமு’ தேசிய வேலைத்திட்டத்தின் கீழ் அம்பாறை, மட்டக்களப்பு, முல்லைதீவு, மொனராகலை, திவுலபிட்டி மற்றும் யாழ்ப்பாணம் ஆகிய இடங்களில் நடைபெற்ற நடமாடும் சேவைகளிலும் அமைச்சு பங்குபற்றியது. இந்த நிகழ்ச்சித் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் திவுலபிட்டியில் நடைபெற்ற நடமாடும் சேவையில் வெளிவிவகார செயலாளர் திரு. ரவிநாத ஆர்யசிங்க கலந்து கொண்டதுடன், அமைச்சின் கூடத்திற்கு விஜயம் செய்து, ஜனாதிபதியின் தலைமையில் நடைபெற்ற முன்னேற்ற ஆய்வுக் கூட்டத்திலும் பங்கு பற்றினார்.

‘ராஜ்ய சேவய கமட கென யன ஜனதா சேவய’ என்ற தேசியத் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் மாத்தளையிலும், ‘எண்டர்பிரைஸ் ஸ்ரீ லங்கா’ திட்டத்தின் கீழ் அனுராதபுரம் மற்றும் யாழ்ப்பாணம் ஆகிய பிரதேசங்களிலும் இந்த வருடத்தில் அமைச்சினால் நடமாடும் சேவைகள் நடாத்தப்பட்டன.

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Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana was in Budapest for bilateral discussions with the Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister of Hungary Péter Szijjártó last Friday. The visit, undertaken at the invitation of the Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó, coincided with the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Hungary this year (since February 1959).

Underlining Sri Lanka’s keenness to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Eastern and Central European countries, Minister Marapana said that advancing cooperation with the Republic of Hungary across a broad policy range was central to this effort. Already, bilateral economic and financial cooperation was robust within the framework of the Sri Lanka-Hungary Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation and the ‘Agreement of Establishment of a Framework Programme for Financial Cooperation’ signed in December 2017. The agreed areas of cooperation, following the first session of the Joint Commission in March 2019 includes agriculture and the food economy, SMEs development, water management and waste water treatment, education, science & technology, disaster management, wellness tourism and renewable energy. Tangible proposals for public-private partnerships have been identified under most of these areas. The two Ministers also reviewed the current status of four projects to be implemented under Hungary’s tied aid credit programme. These are the Bingiriya – Udubaddawa water supply project (Euros 53 million), construction of flyovers – Kohuwela and Gatambe (Euros 52 million), 148 railway level crossing protection (Euros 12 million) and electronic court management system (Euros 32 million). Rehabilitation of water treatment plants in Labugama (US $ 22.5 Mn) and Kalatuwawa (US $ 23.4 Mn), respectively, were implemented in 2017.

Minister Marapana thanked the Government (HUF 11million) and people of Hungary (HUF 9 million) for the immediate humanitarian assistance of HUF 20 million (Euros 65,000) provided for the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. He briefed Foreign Minister Szijjártó on the Government’s committed efforts to promote national reconciliation, good governance and inclusive economic development. He also highlighted the challenges Sri Lanka continued to face in this transformational journey. In response, Foreign Minister Szijjártó, while welcoming the positive developments in Sri Lanka, including in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, said that Hungary was mindful of the difficulties Sri Lanka faced in that journey and reaffirmed his Government’s full support for the country’s development programmes and outreach to the European Union and the international community.

During the visit, Minister Marapana met with Deputy Speaker Istvan Jakab of the Hungarian National Assembly in the context of the Hungary – Sri Lanka Friendship Group established in the Assembly in 2018. He also met with Dr. Andras Veres, Bishop of the Diocese of Szombathely to personally extend appreciation for coordinating the immediate funding assistance from Hungarian Catholic well wishers for the affected in Sri Lanka. Minister Marapana led an interactive session with the CEOs of the Hungarian companies involved with the four development projects under the tied aid credit programme. A familiarization visit to the Bio Fungi agro food facility specialising in mushroom cultivation and value addition, was included in the bilateral segment of the visit. Setting up a pilot project in Sri Lanka was discussed with General Manager Arpad Mutsy.

Sri Lanka’s Charge d’ Affaires Irosha Cooray and  Director General Dhammika Semasinghe of the Foreign Ministry were associated with the official visit and the discussions held.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo

19 June 2019

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ප්‍රතිඵලදායක හා අන්‍යොන්‍ය වශයෙන් ප්‍රතිලාභ ලැබෙන ශ්‍රී ලංකා-හංගේරියානු ද්විපාර්ශ්වික හවුල්කාරීත්වයකට යන මඟ දෙරටේ විදේශ අමාත්‍යවරු සාකච්ඡා කරති

හංගේරියානු විදේශ කටයුතු සහ වෙළෙඳ අමාත්‍ය පිටර් සියාර්තෝ මහතා සමඟ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වීම සඳහා විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය තිලක් මාරපන මහතා ඉකුත් සිකුරාදා හංගේරියාවේ, බුඩාපෙස්ට් නුවර සංචාරයක නියැළිණි. මෙම වසරේ සැමරෙන ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ හංගේරියාව අතර රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික සබඳතා ස්ථාපනය කිරීමේ හැටවැනි සංවත්සරයට සමගාමීව හංගේරියානු විදේශ අමාත්‍ය සියාර්තෝ මහතාගේ ආරාධනාව මත මෙම සංචාරය සිදු කෙරිණි.ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ හංගේරියාව අතර රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික සබඳතා ආරම්භ කරනු ලැබූයේ 1959 පෙබරවාරී මාසයේදී ය.

නැගෙනහිර සහ මධ්‍යම යුරෝපා රටවල් සමඟ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සබඳතා තර කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ ඇති දැඩි උනන්දුව අවධාරණය කළ අමාත්‍ය මාරපන මහතා,  පුළුල් ප්‍රතිපත්තිමය පරාසයක් හරහා හංගේරියාව සමඟ සහයෝගීතාව වර්ධනය කිරීම එකී ප්‍රයත්නයේ මූලිකාංගයක් බව පැවැසීය. ආර්ථික සහයෝගීතාව පිළිබඳ ශ්‍රී ලංකා-හංගේරියා ඒකාබද්ධ කොමිසම සහ 2017 දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේදී අත්සන් කරනු ලැබූ ‘මුල්‍ය සහයෝගය සඳහා වන රාමුගත වැඩසටහනක් ස්ථාපනය කිරීමේ ගිවිසුම’ මඟින් නිර්මාණය කරනු ලැබූ රාමුව තුළ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික ආර්ථික හා මුල්‍ය සහයෝගීතාව ඉතාමත් ශක්තිමත් ආකාරයකින් දැනට ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. 2019 මාර්තු මාසයේ පැවැති ඒකාබද්ධ කොමිසමේ පළමුවැනි සැසිවාරයෙන් අනතුරුව එකඟ වූ සහයෝගීතා ක්ෂේත්‍ර අතර, කෘෂිකර්මය හා ආහාර ආර්ථිකය, සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධනය, ජල කළමනාකරණය හා අපජල පිරිපහදුව, අධ්‍යාපනය, විද්‍යා හා තාක්ෂණ, ආපදා කළමනාකරණ, සුව සංචාරක කටයුතු හා පුනර්ජනනීය බලශක්තිය ආදිය වේ . මේ ක්ෂේත්‍ර බොහෝමයක් යටතේ රාජ්‍ය පෞද්ගලික හවුල්කාරීත්ව සඳහා වූ ප්‍රත්‍යක්ෂ යෝජනා හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. හංගේරියානු ණය ආධාර වැඩසටහන යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ව්‍යාපෘති හතරේ වර්තමාන තත්ත්වයද අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙපළගේ සමාලෝචනයට බඳුන් විය.  මෙම ව්‍යාපෘති වනුයේ,  බිංගිරිය-උඩුබද්දාව ජල සැපයුම් ව්‍යාපෘතිය (යූරෝ මිලියන 53),කොහුවල සහ ගැටඹේ ගුවන් පාලම් ඉදිකිරීම (යූරෝ මිලියන 52 ), දුම්රිය හරස් මාර්ග ගේට්ටු 148 සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම (යූරෝ මිලියන 12) සහ ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික අධිකරණ කළමනාකරණ පද්ධතිය (යූරෝ මිලියන 32) යන ව්‍යාපෘති ය. ලබුගම ජල පිරිපහදුව ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීම (ඇ.ඩො. මිලියන 22.5) සහ කලටුවාව ජල පිරිපහදුව ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීම (ඇ.ඩො. මිලියන 23.4) යන ව්‍යාපෘති 2017 දී ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරිණි.

පාස්කු ඉරුදින ප්‍රහාරවල වින්දිතයන් සඳහා හංගේරියානු රජය සහ එරට ජනතාව ලබා දුන් හංගේරියානු ෆොරින්ට් මිලියන 20 (යූරෝ 65,000) ක් වටිනා හදිසි මානුෂීය ආධාර වෙනුවෙන් අමාත්‍ය මාරපන මහතා ඔවුන්ට සිය ස්තූතිය පුද කළේය. ජාතික සංහිඳියාව, යහපාලනය හා අන්තර්ගත ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනය ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමෙහිලා කැපවීමෙන් යුතුව රජය දරන ප්‍රයත්න සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඒ මහතා අමාත්‍ය සියාර්තෝ මහතා දැනුම්වත් කළේය. මෙම පරිවර්තනීය ගමනේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අඛණ්ඩව මුහුණ පාන අභියෝගද අමාත්‍ය මාරපන මහතා ඉස්මතු කොට පෙන්වීය. ඊට පිළිතුරු වශයෙන්, පාස්කු ඉරුදින ප්‍රහාරවලින් ඉක්බිතිවද ඇතුළුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ ඇතිවමින් පවතින ධනාත්මක ප්‍රවණතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය ප්‍රසාදය පළ කළ හංගේරියානු විදේශ අමාත්‍යවරයා, එම ගමනේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මුහුණ පාන දුෂ්කරතා හංගේරියාව දන්නා බවත්, රටේ සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන්වලට සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යුරෝපා සංගමයට හා ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රජාවට ප්‍රවේශ වීමට දරන ප්‍රයත්නවලට සිය රජයේ සම්පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන බවත් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

මෙම සංචාරය අතරතුරදී අමාත්‍ය මාරපන මහතා හංගේරියානු ජාතික මන්ත්‍රණ සභාවේ නියෝජ්‍ය කතානායක ඉස්ත්වාන් යාකබ් මහතාද හමු විය. ඒ 2018 වසරේදී මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව තුළ පිහිට වූ හංගේරියානු-ශ්‍රී ලංකා මිත්‍රත්ව කණ්ඩායමේ සන්දර්භය තුළ ය. පාස්කු ඉරුදින ප්‍රහාරවලින් අනතුරුව එහි වින්දිතයන් වෙනුවෙන් හංගේරියානු කතෝලික ප්‍රජාව ලබාදුන් හදිසි මුල්‍යාධාර සම්බන්ධීකරණය කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය පෞද්ගලික ස්තූතිය පිරිනැමීම පිණිස ඒ මහතා සොම්බතෙලි දියෝකීසියේ බිෂොප්වර ආචාර්ය අන්ද්‍රාස් වෙරෙස් හිමිපාණන්ද හමු විය. අමාත්‍ය මාරපන මහතා හංගේරියානු ණය ආධාර වැඩසටහන යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති හතරට සම්බන්ධ හංගේරියානු සමාගම්වල ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරීන් සමඟ සංවාද සැසියක්ද පැවැත්වීය. බිම්මල් වගාව හා ඊට වටිනාකම් එකතු කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශේෂඥභාවයක් උසුලන බයෝ ෆන්ගි කෘෂි ආහාර කර්මාන්ත ශාලාව නැරඹීමටද අමාත්‍යවරයා ගියේය.එහි නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඇරඹීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් එම ආයතනයේ සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී අර්පද් මුට්සි මහතා සමඟ සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්විණි.

හංගේරියාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා අතරතුර තානාපතිනි ඉරෝෂා කුරේ සහ විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ධම්මිකා සේමසිංහ යන මහත්මීහූ මෙම නිල සංචාරයට සහ පැවැති සාකච්ඡාවලට එක් වූහ.

විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය
කොළඹ

2019 ජූනි 19 වැනිදා

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இலங்கை மற்றும் ஹங்கேரி ஆகிய நாடுகளுக்கு இடையிலான அறுபது வருட இராஜதந்திர உறவுகளை இவ்வருடம் இருநாடுகளும் கொண்டாடும் வேளையில் இலங்கை-ஹங்கேரி இருதரப்பு பங்குடைமையின் துடிப்பான, பலன்சார்ந்த மற்றும் பரஸ்பர நன்மைகள் தொடர்பான திட்டம் பற்றிய கலந்துரையாடலில் வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் திலக் மாரபன மற்றும் அவரின் ஹங்கேரி சகாவான பீட்டர் சிஜ்ஜாடோ ஈடுபடுகின்றனர்.

கடந்த வெள்ளிக்கிழமை ஹஹ்கேரி வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் மற்றும் வர்த்தக அமைச்சர் பீட்டர் சிஜ்ஜாடோ ஆகியோருக்கு இடையில் இடம்பெற்ற  இருதரப்பு கலந்தரையாடலுக்காக வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் திலக் மாரபன அவர்கள் புடாபெஸ்ட் சென்றிருந்தார். ஹஹ்கேரி வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் பீட்டர் சிஜ்ஜாடோவின் அழைப்பின் பிரகாரம் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட இந்த விஜயமானது இலங்கை மற்றும் ஹங்கேரி ஆகிய நாடுகளுக்கு இடையிலான இராஜதந்திர உறவுகளை தாபித்து அறுபது வருட ஆண்டு நிறைவுடன் இசைந்திருந்தது (1959 பெப்ரவரி முதல்).

கிழக்கு மற்றும் மத்திய ஐரோப்பிய நாடுகளுடன் இலங்கையின் இருதரப்பு கலந்தரையாடல்களை ஆழமாக மேற்கொள்வதற்கான இலங்கையின் ஆர்வத்தை வலியுறுத்திய அமைச்சர் மாரபன அவர்கள், ஹங்கேரி குடியரசுடன் ஒரு பரந்த கொள்கைளின் அடிப்படையில் ஒத்துழைப்பை முன்னெடுத்தல் இந்த முயற்சியின் முக்கிய அம்சமாகும் என்பதுடன் 2017 ஆம் ஆண்டு கைச்சாத்திடப்பட்ட பொருளாதார ஒத்துழைப்பு பற்றிய இலங்கை-ஹங்கேரி இணை ஆணைக்குழு கட்டமைப்பு மற்றும் நிதிசார் ஒத்துழைப்புக்கான கட்டமைப்பு நிகழ்ச்சிநிரல் தாபிப்பதற்கான உடன்படிக்கை  ஆகியவற்றுக்கு அமைவாக இருதரப்பு பொருளாதார மற்றும் நிதிசார் ஒத்துழைப்பானது ஏற்கனவே வலுவாக இருந்தாகவும் அவர் தெரிவித்தார். 2019 மார்ச் மாதத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற இணை ஆணைக்குழுவின் ஆரம்ப அமர்வினை தொடர்ந்து இணக்கப்பாடு ஏற்படுத்திக்கொண்ட ஒத்துழைப்பு விடயப்பரப்புக்களாவன கமத்தொழில் மற்றும் உணவு பொருளாதாரம், சிறிய நடுத்தர தொழில்முயற்சிகள் அபிவிருத்தி, நீர் முகாமைத்துவம் மற்றும் கழிவு நீர் சுத்திகரிப்பு, கல்வி, விஞ்ஞானம் மற்றும் தொழில்நுட்பவியல் அனர்த்த முகாமைத்துவம், சுற்றுலாத்துறை மற்றும் மீள்புதுப்பிக்கத்தக்க சக்தி ஆகியவற்றை உள்ளடக்குகின்றன. அநேகமான இந்த விடயப்பரப்புக்களின் கீழ் அரச-தனியார் பங்குடைமைகளுக்கான உறுதியான பிரேரணைகள் இனங்காணப்பட்டுள்ளன. ஹங்கேரியின் உதவிக்கடன் நிகழ்ச்சித்திட்டத்தின் கீழ் இடம்பெற்றுவரும் நான்கு கருத்திட்டங்களின் தற்போதைய நிலைமை தொடர்பாகவும் இரண்டு அமைச்சர்களும் மீளாய்வு செய்தனர். இந்த கருத்திட்டங்களாவன பிங்கிரிய-உடுபெட்தாவ நீர் விநியோக கருத்திட்டம்(53மில்லியன் யூரோ), கொவ்வல மற்றும் கெடம்ப- மேம்பாலம் நிர்மாணம் ( 52 மில்லியன் யூரோ), 148 புகையிரதப்பாதை பாதுகாப்பு கடவைகள் (12மில்லியன் யூரோ), மற்றும் இலத்திரணியல் நீதிமன்ற முகாமைத்துவ முறைமை (32 மில்லியன் யூரோ), ஆகியவை ஆகும். லபுகம நீர் சுத்திகரிப்பு புணர்நிர்மாணம்(22.5 மில்லியன் ஐ.அ டொலர்) மற்றும் கலதுவாவ நீர் சுத்திகரிப்பு புணர்நிர்மாணம் (23.4 மில்லியன் ஐ.அ டொலர்)  ஆகியவை 2017ஆம் ஆண்டில் முறையே நிறைவேற்றப்பட்டன.

உயிர்த ஞாயிறு தாக்குதலால் பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளான மக்களுக்காக வழங்கிய 20 மில்லியன் எச்.யூ.எப் (65000 யூரோ) துரித மனிதாபிமான உதவிகளுக்காக அமைச்சர் திலக் மாரபன  அவர்கள் அரசாங்கத்திற்கும் (11 மில்லியன் எச்.யூ.எப்.) மற்றும் ஹங்கேரி மக்களுக்கும் (9மில்லியன் எச்.யூ.எப்) நன்றியை தெரிவித்தார். தேசிய நல்லிணக்கம், நல்லாட்சி, மற்றும் அனைத்தும் உள்ளடங்கிய பொருளாதார அபிவிருத்தி ஆகியவற்றை மேம்படுத்துவதற்கான முயற்சியில் அரசாங்கத்தின் அர்ப்பணிப்பை வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் பீட்டர் சிஜ்ஜாடோவிற்கு அவர் விளக்கிக் கூறினார். இந்த நிலைமாற்று செயற்பாட்டில் இலங்கையானது தொடர்ந்தும் முகம்கொடுத்துவரும் சாவால்களையும் அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார். இதற்கு மறுமொழியளித்த ஹங்கேரி வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சர் பீட்டர் சிஜ்ஜாடோ அவர்கள், உயிர்த்த ஞாயிறு தாக்குதல் உட்பட அதற்கு பின்னர் இலங்கைளில் இடம்பெற்றுவரும் நேர்மறையான முன்னேற்றங்களை பாராட்டியதுடன், இலங்கையானது அதன் அர்ப்பணிப்புப் பாதையில் முகங்கொடுத்துள்ள சிரமங்களை ஹங்கேரி நன்கு அறிந்துள்ளதுடன், நாட்டின் அபிவிருத்தி நிகழ்ச்சித்திட்டங்கள் மற்றும் ஐரோப்பிய ஒன்றியம் மற்றும் சர்வதேச சமுதாயத்தை அணுகல் ஆகியவற்றிக்கு அவரது அரசாங்கத்தின் முழு ஒத்துழைப்பையும் உறுதிசெய்தார்.

இந்த விஜயத்தின் போது, அமைச்சர் மாரபன அவர்கள் ஹங்கேரி தேசிய அசெம்பிளியின் பிரதி சபாநாயகர் ஸ்ட்வன் ஜேகொப் அவர்களை 2018 ஆம் ஆண்டில் அசெம்பிளியில் தாபிக்கப்பட்ட ஹங்கேரி-ஸ்ரீலங்கா நட்புக்குழுவின்  பிரகாரம் சந்தித்தார். மேலும், பாதிக்கப்பட்ட இலங்கைக்கான துரித நிதியுதவியை ஹங்கேரி கத்தோலிக்க நலன்விரும்பிகளிடம்  இருந்து ஒருங்கிணைத்தமைக்காக சம்பாத்தலி மறைவாவட்ட பேராயர் கலாநிதி அன்ராஸ் அவர்களை நேரடியாக சந்தித்து நன்றியையும் அவர்  தெரிவித்துக்கொண்டார். அமைச்சர் மாரபன அவர்கள் ஹங்கேரி கடன் நிகழ்ச்சித்திட்டத்தின் கீழ் இடம்பெறும் நான்கு அபிவிருத்தி கருத்திட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ள ஹங்கேரி கம்பனிகளின் பிரதம உத்தியோகத்தர்களுடன்   கலந்துரையாடல் அமர்வொன்றையும் மேற்கொண்டார். இருதரப்பு விஜயத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியாக காளான் வளர்ப்பு மற்றும் சேர்பெறுமதியில் விசேட கவனத்தை செலுத்தும் பையோ பங்கி அக்ரோ உணவு நிலையத்திற்கும் ஒரு பரிச்சய-விஜயமொன்று  உள்ளடக்கப்பட்டது.  இலங்கையில் அத்தகைய முன்னோடி கருத்திட்டம் ஒன்றை இலங்கையில் தாபித்தல் தொடர்பிலும் பொது முகாமையாளர் ஆர்பெட் மஸ்டியுடன் கலந்துரையாடப்பட்டது.

இந்த உத்தியோகபூர்வ விஜயத்திலும் இடம்பெற்ற கலந்துரையாடலிலும் இலங்கையின் இடைத் தூதுவர்  இரோசா குரே மற்றும் வெளிநாட்டு அமைச்சின் பணிப்பாளர் நாயகம் தம்மிக சமரசிங்க ஆகியோரும் இணைந்திருந்தனர்.

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