COLOMBO: Korea-Sri Lanka relations have made great strides in recent years and have become robust, spurred by a significant convergence of interests, mutual goodwill and high level exchanges. Since 1977, Korea and Sri Lanka have come a long way together to form a symbiotic bilateral partnership, strengthened by mutual goodwill and high level exchanges. Korea and Sri Lanka have been truly good friends to each other on a whole range of issues, sharing common goals. It is indeed a memorable year for the friendship between Korea and Sri Lanka as the commemoration the 45th year of our diplomatic relations between our two countries is celebrated this year.
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To mark this year’s milestone celebration of 45 years of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka visited Korea early this year. Following this visit, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and the Minister for Government Policy Coordination of the Republic of Korea visited Sri Lanka. It is noteworthy that the Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea is the very first Speaker of a foreign country who visited Sri Lanka since the inauguration of the 9th Parliament in 2020. This visit, together with the valuable contribution by the Parliamentary Friendship Associations between Korea and Sri Lanka was a clarion call to consolidate the bilateral parliamentary ties between the two countries.
Pursuant to the high-level visits from Korea to Sri Lanka, thanks to the kind support from the Government of Sri Lanka, Korea-Sri Lanka relations achieved significant results and three major outcomes are highly noteworthy.
Firstly, the Korean government increased the budget for ODA projects in Sri Lanka by an additional 35%. This would pave the way for mutually beneficial development cooperation between the two countries.
Secondly, the Korean government also expanded the quota for foreign employment (EPS) from Sri Lanka significantly, almost by double. This will increase the exchange of people and eventually elevate our relationship to the next level.
Thirdly, after the visit, both nations have paved the way to activate economic cooperation not only in the private sector but also the public sector. This could bring forth more opportunities for Korean companies to invest in Sri Lanka.
Recently there have been constructive bilateral meetings between the Foreign Ministers of Korea and Sri Lanka at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia. These high-level exchanges continue to exemplify the special relationship between our two countries and herald the dawn of a new era of strengthened relations between Korea and Sri Lanka.