Korea to provide assistance to education, health, renewable energy, employment following PM’s visit

Thursday, 11 April 2024 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Miyon Lee called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo yesterday to discuss follow up actions on the decisions taken at the discussions held during the Prime Minister’s visit.

Gunawardena held discussions with Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Speaker of National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo, Governor of Gyengsangbuk-do Province Lee Cheol-woo and former Secretary General of the United Nation and current President and chair of Green Growth Institute Ban Ki-moon.

During these discussions, Korea agreed to increase support to Sri Lanka in several sectors including education, health, renewable energy, employment, agriculture and rural development.

On the request of the Prime Minister, Korea agreed to provide smart classrooms to 1,000 schools in Sri Lanka to assist the Government efforts to develop information technology education at school level. Korea will also send doctors and medical teams for short-term medical practices at Government hospitals and to share their expertise with Sri Lankan doctors.

Ambassador Lee said that her country would work on a few new development projects in Sri Lanka in addition to early completion of the ongoing projects.

She said three projects on water treatment, sanitation, sewage disposal systems and dry zone agriculture have been implemented. Korea will also undertake a floating solar panel instalment on Chandrika Wewa in Ratnapura district as a pilot project in renewable energy.

Korean leaders have also agreed to increase employment quota for Sri Lankan workers, both in skilled/professional sectors as well as seasonal agriculture

sector.

The Prime Minister thanked the Government of Korea for the excellent cooperation and hospitality extended during his brief visit.

MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Advisor Sugeeswara Senadhira and First Secretary of Korean Embassy Sohngyee Jung were also present at this discussion.