Myanmar appreciates Sri Lanka’s support in aid of cyclone victims

(March 25, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Myanmar Ambassador in Sri Lanka,Tin Oo Lwin has thanked the Government and people of Sri Lanka for their spontaneous and generous assistance provided to the people of Myanmar in the wake of the cyclone Nargis which struck his country in May 2008. He expressed his appreciation at a function held at the Foreign Ministry today (25 March 2009) at which Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama handed over a cheque to the value of Rs. 2.5 million to as post-disaster relief for the victims of the cyclone.

This donation to the Government of Myanmar marks the final segment of a modest, yet comprehensive humanitarian project launched by the Sri Lankan Government last year in the immediate aftermath of cyclone Nargis, to provide disaster relief to the people of Myanmar.

This relief project included the dispatch of a team of medical experts and the provision of a relief consignment containing medicine, food, clothing and other essential items to Myanmar in May/June last year. This was facilitated with the support of the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Services; and Sri Lanka’s private sector, including BOI companies. The current financial contribution has been supported through donations received from Sri Lanka’s financial sector including the Bank of Ceylon, the People’s Bank and the National Savings Bank, and facilitated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Foreign Ministry.

The donation is testimony to the strong friendship that exists between Sri Lanka and Myanmar as neighbours and two Asian counties sharing similar religious, cultural and historical ties. In May last year, the Sri Lanka Government also extended humanitarian assistance to China, following the earthquake in the Sichuan Province. -Sri Lanka Guardian