President Maithripala Sirisena said he is fully satisfied with the accomplishment of goals set at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo and during the period of the last two years, when Sri Lanka was the Chair in Office of the Commonwealth.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera together with the Foreign Ministers of India, Malta and Mauritius signed a Declaration of Intent for the creation of a Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility to assist boost trade and investment flows, particularly for small and developing countries in Malta on 26th November 2015.
The newly appointed High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Singapore, Mr. Nimal Weeraratne presented his credentials to His Excellency Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of the Republic of Singapore on Thursday, 26th November 2015. The ceremony was held at the Istana, the office and the official residence of the President of Singapore where the High Commissioner was welcomed with a Guard of Honour upon his arrival.
After the welcome ceremony, High Commissioner Weeraratne presented credentials to President Tony Tan, and held a brief discussion. The First Lady of Singapore, Mrs. Weeraratne and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore were present at the meeting. In his remarks, the High Commissioner conveyed warm greetings and best wishes of President Maithripala Sirisena and those of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Singaporean President which was warmly reciprocated.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera participated at the Commonwealth Foreign Ministerial Action Group Meeting (CMAG) at CHOGM, 2015 in Malta on 25 November 2015.
The families of deceased migrant workers in the Middle East and Russia received compensation on 26thNovember 2015 at an event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thirty four such families received Sri Lankan Rupees 50 million from Hon. Dr. Harsha de Silva, Actg. Minister of Foreign Affairs. This is the third such event organized by the Ministry for the year 2015.
“I cannot think of a country in the world today where there has been this much change in this short a period of time.” – Ambassador Samantha Power, Colombo, November 23rd
United States Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Samantha Power visited Sri Lanka from November 21st to 23rd. Ambassador Samantha Power is the second cabinet level visitor from the US Administration to travel to Sri Lanka this year, following Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit in May.
Ambassador Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the USA to the United Nations left Sri Lanka on 24th November 2015 after a three day visit. Dr Harsh de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs saw her off at the Bandaranayake International Airport.
