‘President places enormous faith in sustainable development’

Chaminda Perera

The government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has placed enormous faith in the sustainable development which meets the needs of the younger generation while preserving natural resources, Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.

He said that Koreans are capable of understanding the sustainable development trend sweeping the world and they want to ensure that sustainable development goals are achieved whenever development assistance is sought by the government.

The minister was speaking at the annual day of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and its alumni Association of KOICA Fellow in Sri Lanka (AKOFE) at Hotel Taj Samudra recently. Minister Yapa presented the token of appreciation to the KOICA and AKOFE senior officials for their enormous contribution towards promoting relations between the two nations.

Minister Yapa said Korea has been a close development partner for Sri Lanka for years and the two countries have very close ties in many fields including economy, culture and trade. He said that KOICA has provided technical assistance for the landfill project in Dompe.

“The project is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka”, he said. The minister added that KOICA has also offered assistance for five such projects in different parts of the country. Yapa added that government officials should learn the commitment, dedication discipline and high work ethics of the Koreans. “Korean training for our government servants is important as Korea is considered as a development model, he said. Minister Yapa noted that Korea has become the second largest donor in terms of provision of training to Sri Lanka. “Success behind Korea is its rich human resources development”, he added. He opined that the government servants who received Korean training should be active contributors to the development of the country.

“The government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa believes that human resources development particularly among the public servants is a primary need for the country’s development. Yapa added that development of the world has put enormous pressure on natural resources including forests and wildlife and the government does not believe in development for the sake of development. South Korean Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jung Moon Choi said that Korean national carrier Korean Airlines will start direct flights from Seoul to Colombo next year promoting closer ties between the two nations.

He said that the launch of direct flights between Seoul and Colombo will boost tourism, investment and trade sectors too.

The Korean envoy said that he wanted to increase the number of Korean tourists visiting Sri Lanka from 8,000 to 200,000 within five years.

He said over two million Koreans visit Thailand, the Philippines and other countries for pleasure a year and only 8,000 Koreans visited Sri Lanka during the last year. Moon added that he wanted to bring 10 per cent of Koreans visiting the Philippines and Thailand to Sri Lanka within a five year time frame.

The envoy said that teaching Korean language is progressing well and the language department set up under the Colombo University is teaching Korean language to the teachers and the academic staff of the universities systematically.

He said that Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is telecasting Korean drama through which Sri Lanka understand culture and society of Korea. The ambassador said over 5,000 Sri Lankans received employment in Korea this year.

He said that Sri Lanka will remain as the priority partner of Korea. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Korea last year was a huge success it gave momentum for the bilateral relations.

It was the first visit of a Sri Lanka President after 16 years. He said that economic cooperation between the two nations witnessed massive improvement since then.

More Korean companies have come to Sri Lanka in partnership with local companies.

He said that Korean companies are engaged in power, highways and infrastructure development activities such as Colombo Harbour expansion project. “Their presence is visible in the construction of high rise building complex too, he said. Ministers Mahinda Yapa, Mahinda Amaraweera, Jong Moon Choi, Resident Representative of KOICA in Sri Lanka Cho Sang Woo.

President Association of KOICA Fellows in Sri Lanka Buddhi Passaperuma and CEB Chairman Prof. Wimaladharma Abeywickrema were present.