Foreign Secretary Dr. Kohona highlights the need to operationalize the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and Nepal

(July 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Dr. Palitha T. B. Kohona, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently undertaking an Official visit to Nepal. He paid courtesy calls on Rt. Hon. Madhav Kumar Nepal, Prime Minister of Nepal and Hon. Sujata Koirala, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on 27th July, 2009. Dr. Kohona also held detailed discussions with Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, his counterpart on bilateral relations between the two countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu.

During his discussions with Nepali leaders, the two parties highlighted the need to operationalize the Joint Commission that was established between Nepal and Sri Lanka during the State Visit of H.E. the President of Sri Lanka to Nepal in March, 2009. The Joint Commission covers nearly 15 areas of cooperation including Trade, direct air links, education, health, global warming and climate change issues etc. Cooperation in the field of promoting tourism, sharing of expertise on the health and education systems of Sri Lanka and revival of cooperation between the Business Councils of the two countries were some of the highlights of the discussions. Dr. Kohona also expressed Sri Lanka’s willingness to assist Nepal to develop a mechanism to attract foreign direct investment similar to that of the Board of Investment [BOI] in Sri Lanka. A Nepali delegation is expected to visit the BOI in the next few weeks.

Dr. Kohona who is also the current chair of the SAARC Standing Committee paid a visit to the SAARC Secretariat in Katmandu. He held discussions with Dr. Sheel Kant Sharma, Secretary General of SAARC and the SAARC Directors on the progress being achieved during the Chairmanship of Sri Lanka. They also discussed the importance of adopting measures to counter the adverse effects of climate change as a region, the status of the SAARC Development Fund and the SAARC Food Bank and other important projects undertaken under the aegis of SAARC.

-Sri Lanka Guardian