Tuesday,22nd July 2014
By Chamikara Weerasinghe
External Affairs Minister Prof. G L Peiris yesterday said that Sri Lanka has achieved accreditation status in the African Union. "It is a matter of great value and importance to us," he said.
Prof Peiris was addressing the media after signing two bilateral agreements with visiting Tanzanian Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Bernard Kamillius Membe. The agreements on Bilateral Political Consultations and on the Establishment of a Joint Commission for Cooperation between the governments of Sri Lanka and Tanzania were signed at the External Affairs Ministry, Colombo.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the to countries by Membe and Coconut Development Minister Jagath Pushpakumara on Sustainable Coconut Research and Development.
Prof Peiris said President Mahinda Rajapaksa has taken initiatives to revamp bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the African continent, particularly Eastern Africa of which four countries he had visited within nine months last year. President Rajapaksa's visit to Tanzania has laid a solid foundation to enhance multifaceted cooperation between Sri Lanka and the African Continent, prof Peiris said.
Tanzanian Minister Membe said, "Sri Lanka has transformed through home-grown solutions. That is why Tanzania is proud of Sri Lanka."
"I wish to congratulated the government of Sri Lanka for its success in CHOGM in November last year. I have come to Sri Lanka after nine months. I must say infrastructure development in Sri Lanka is unbelievable."
"The time has come for Sri Lanka to express the world the reality of positive gains it has achieved against negative propaganda."
"This is pure development. Even a blind man can see that this country has ushered in economic development and democracy," he said.
"Sri Lanka has shown that it has home-grown solutions to its problems and to transform the society. Sri Lanka has achieved in five years what one can expect to achieve in a decade," he said.
From: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=local/sl-gets-accreditation-status-african-union-gl
