President to attend G-11 Summit, World Economic Forum

Rohan Mathes

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday left the island to attend the G-11 Summit and the World Economic Forum in Jordan.

A high-level business delegation accompanied President Rajapaksa on this official tour to Jordan by a Mihin Lanka flight. The business delegation will attend two summits and endeavour to fulfil an array of new investment opportunities on this tour.

President Rajapaksa is expected to deliver a special message when he addresses the G-11 Summit in Jordan. It is also envisaged that the tour will further enhance and consolidate the long-term, bilateral links between Sri Lanka and the Middle East countries.

The World Economic Forum which originated in 1971 in Geneva is a non-political organisation made up of a collective of economic and business organisations of varied levels, seeking social development. The Forum aims to achieve a host of multi-faceted goals such as technological development at international and zonal levels.

The G-11 Summit which comprises low and medium income level countries is to be hosted at the King Hussein Conference Hall.

King Abdullah Al Hussain of Jordan will preside as its General Secretary. The Summit will focus on the sharing of technical knowledge among the member countries.

The G-11 Summit will be represented by Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Pakistan from Asia, Jordan from the Middle East, Morocco and Tunisia from Africa, Georgia, Croatia from Europe, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador from Central and South America.

While looking forward to expand the job market in the Middle East and increase the supply of Sri Lankan labour to Jordan, the President in this Middle East tour, will enter into agreements to protect and ensure the safety and welfare of Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Jordan. The President will meet some of the 60,000 odd Sri Lankan workers who are believed to be five per cent of the labour force in Jordan to date.

On the invitation of the Kuwaiti Emir, President Rajapaksa will also visit Kuwait and strive to arrange the background wherein professional Sri Lankan employees could be induced into the Middle East job market in the future.