Sri Lanka, Victoria State to strengthen ties

An agreement was reached to further strengthen relations between Sri Lanka and the State of Victoria in Australia during talks Prime Minister Ranil Wickrmesinghe held with Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews on February 16 concurrent to his four day official visit to Australia.

During the talks, the two Prime Ministers expressed the view that relations between Australian states and Sri Lanka would help further cement and strengthen bilateral friendship and relations between the two countries.

Discussions also centred on joint collaboration in the fields of Education, Higher Education and Post Graduate fields with emphasis on investments and expertise attention was also drawn towards the possibility of operating Education Institutions for award of degrees catering to the needs of Asian Countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh in a manner that would fulfil Sri Lanka’s aspirations.

The State of Victoria has also drawn attention towards providing investments and technology transfers for the establishment of educational institutions relating to hospitality services and Information Technology.

Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews also accepted an invitation extended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to visit Sri Lanka and said he hoped to schedule it for next year.

The Victorian Prime Ministers delegation to the talks comprised Chief of Staff of the Prime Ministers department Lissie Ratclift, Cabinet Secretary Chris Eclas and others while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s delegation comprised Minister Vijith Vijayamuni Soysa and Arjuna Ranatunga, Deputy Minister Dr.Harsha de Silva, Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Ekanayake Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia Somasundaram Skandakumar and Sri Lanka Consul General in Melbourne G.S. Prasanna.