Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to the Philippines Shobini Gunasekera paid a courtesy call on Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. on 25 October 2019.
During the call, Secretary Locsin recalled the recent State Visit to Philippines by President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena and the MoU’s on defence, agriculture, higher education and tourism, signed during the State Visit. The Secretary also stated that the Government of the Philippines is studying the successful eradication of 30 years insurgency in Sri Lanka and how the government cleared its campaign plans for resumption of peace talks.
Ambassador-designate Gunasekera expressed her appreciation for the warm welcome extended by the Secretary. She started off by stating that economic diplomacy is the order of the day. She also said that Sri Lanka is keen to share best practices on reconciliation process and sharing of mechanisms for counter-terrorism.
Ambassador-designate also reiterated the participation of Sri Lankan delegation at the Manila FAME from 17-19 October 2019 and the fruitful visit to Philippines by a delegation from the Sri Lanka-Philippine Business Council from 21-22 October 2019. She also invited Secretary Locsin to visit Sri Lanka during the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Colombo. Further, she conveyed her eagerness to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs to further strengthen Sri Lanka’s relations with the Philippines.
Both officials agreed to enhance further cooperation in the areas of tourism, trade and investment.
The officials present during the courtesy call were Assistant Secretary of the Office of Asia and Pacific Affairs (ASPAC), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Meynardo L.B. Montealgre, Minister of the Embassy Thanuja Dissanayake and Director of ASPAC, DFA Rona Beth Goce.
