Government to allocate more funds for scientific research

The new government of Sri Lanka has identified the need to increase the allocation of funds for the scientific researches annually as well as the need to provide sufficient physical and human resources for research purposes, President Maithripala Sirisena has said.

Participating in an event to present of President’s Awards for scientific publications at the Water’s Edge in Battaramulla Wednesday (18), President Sirisena observed that the funds allocated for the scientific research and the assistance given by the government in this regard, during the past few years were absolutely not sufficient.

“The developed countries in the world spend a considerable amount of their annual income on scientific research each year,” the President said.

Emphasizing the need of giving priority to scientific research when moving to the new world, the President said that the new government expanded the portfolio of the Ministry of Science and Technology under previous governments as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research because the new government identified the timely need of this area.

The President expressed hope that scholars, intellectuals, as well as scientists will assist the new transformation of the country.

Awards were presented to more than 200 scientists for their scientific research in the fields of medicine, agriculture and engineering for the year 2013 at the event organized by the National Research Council of Sri Lanka.