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| Monday, 21 June 2004 |
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| Finance Minister vows to establish sustainable link with Hungary by Rohan Mathes The newly appointed President of the Sri Lanka-Hungary Friendship Association, Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama vows to establish a sustainable link with Hungary. Following his appointment as the new President of the Association at the annual general meeting held on Friday at the BMICH, Dr. Amunugama who was also the Chief Guest at the occasion, pointed out the importance of establishing an initional link with the former Eastern-Block Communist state of Hungary, with whom Sri Lanka has had a glorious and cordial relationshp in the past, socially, culturally and politically. "With the fall of the mighty Soviet Union and the 'Warsaw Pact', links with this beautiful Central European country weakened. Hungary had been a transit point to enter Western Europe during the era of the 'Berlin wall'. We must renew the friendly ties we have enjoyed in the past with Hungary. I am confident that they too would appreciate it very much", he said. The General Secretary of the Association Upali Bandara said that an agreement had been signed with Hungary in 1998 to send a batch of Sri Lankan graduates for post-graduate scholarships, but, due to the lack of interests of the education ministry officials to follow-up the matter, the agreement was later abandoned. He recollected the gainful trade exchanges and the bilateral agreements between Sri Lanka and Hungary, which was beneficial to both countries. The General Secretary informed its membership that a Hungarian business delegation was due in Sri Lanka shortly and that this would be a fine opportunity of establishing business contacts with the business communty of Hungary. Deputy Speaker Geethangana Gunewardena, Deputy Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs Pandu Bandaranayake, Shalitha Wijesundera and D.H. Samarasekera were appointed as Vice presidents of the Association. The other office bearers appointed were, Upali Bandara as the General Secretary, W.A. Duminduwardena as the Assistant Secretary, Malik Zahir as the Treasurer and Nihal Silva as the Chief Organiser. Presidential Advisor Lakshman Jayakody was appointed as the Patron. On the advice of the new President of the Association Dr. Sarath Amunugama, all other members present at the meeting were appointed as Committee members. A unique feature on the appointment of the new office bearers was that all were appointed unanimously. The new President of the Sri Lanka-Hungary Friendship Association Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama addressing the membership. Also in the picture is Vice President D. H. Samarasena and the General Secretary Upali Bandara. |
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