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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tyronne Fernando said the Technical Co-operation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (TCP-MOFA) was launched in January 2001 as a goodwill gesture towards Sri Lanka's neighbouring countries in SAARC and ASEAN region, namely, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam in his keynote address at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Certificate Course in Public Management - 2002, organised under the aegis of the Technical Co-operation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration in Colombo.

Foreign Minister explained that through this program, fellowships are granted to nationals of the seven participating countries to follow courses in Sri Lanka on a wide range of themes such as agriculture and agriculture-related themes, environment information and communication technology, public management, Professional English etc. 13 participants from the countries mentioned above, along with Sri Lanka are attending this course, which is of 30-day duration. It is the first course to be organised in 2002, having organised 11 courses in 2001, training 92 personnel.

Elaborating on the multi-faceted reasons behind the launching of TCP-MOFA, Minister mentioned that Sri Lanka was a seat of learning and scholarship, and for centuries foreign scholars visited Sri Lanka, particularly from South and South East Asia with which Sri Lanka has been able to establish deep-rooted historical links. He also referred to the strong indigenous knowledge base, which has been enhanced with new ideas, processes and technology that were introduced to the country through trade and European colonisation processes. Further it was mentioned that even under the British, Sri Lanka was better placed than many of her contemporary nations and has been able to initiate free education, universal franchise, subsidised transport facilities, food, security and free health care services, even before gaining independence. It was also noted that, since independence, Sri Lanka was a recipient of a substantial number of opportunities for its human resource development through various technology transfer processes and technical co-operation programs offered particularly by international institutions and developed countries.

Therefore, it was felt timely that Sri Lanka herself launches a Technical Co-operation Program as a part of fulfilling her international obligation while promoting South-South co-operation. Making the Sri Lankan academic, research and professional institutions better known as "Centres of Excellence" among the international community as well as to re-invigorating historic ties with the countries assisted while promoting Sri Lanka's image abroad are also envisaged by the Technical Co-operation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Public Administration, Management and Administrative Reforms, Vajira Abeywardena emphasised on the importance of effective management in the public sector for progress of developing countries like ours.

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