COLOMBO ; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath concluded his official visit to Australia from 1 to 3 June at the invitation of the Government of Australia.
During the visit, Minister Herath held discussions with his counterpart, Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, covering a wide range of areas including trade, security cooperation, tourism, education, and sports. Minister Herath also paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Australian Parliament, Milton Dick, and had discussions with Minister of Small Business, International Development and Multicultural Affairs, Anne Aly, Special Envoy for the Indian Ocean Affairs, Tim Watts, and the Australia Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group.
One of the substantive outcomes of the discussions was Australia’s reiteration of its support for Sri Lanka’s application to accede to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Minister Herath also had engagements with the Governor of Victoria, Margaret Gardner, and the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan of the State of Victoria.
As part of the business and investment related programme of the visit, the Minister delivered remarks at the Sri Lanka – Victoria Industry Roundtable hosted by Global Victoria which is the State Government of Victoria’s trade facilitation agency, and participated in a business networking session with representatives of the business community.
The visit included engagement with the Sri Lankan community at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra, which provided an opportunity for the Minister to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to fostering close ties with the Sri Lankan expatriate community.
The Official Visit, being the first by a Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to Australia in over a decade, together with recent high level visits to Sri Lanka from Australia, reflects the renewed commitment by both countries to further strengthen the bilateral relationship and cooperation across a wide spectrum of sectors.
High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Canberra Yasoja Gunasekera, Director General of East Asia and Oceania, Savitri Panabokke accompanied the Minister at the meetings, while Consul General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne joined the programmes held in Victoria.
