Minister Alistair Burt announces £ 3 million towards demining in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Visiting British Minister Alistair Burt met the Minister for Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

The two Ministers discussed trade and investment ties between Sri Lanka and the UK, as well as Sri Lanka’s progress in development. Burt emphasised the British Government’s commitment towards Sri Lanka, stating that a key part of his visit would be promoting bilateral trade between the two countries.

The UK is the second highest investor in Sri Lanka, with many British companies represented in the country, spanning sectors such as education, construction and financial services. A number of Sri Lankan companies are also successfully doing business with the UK.

During the meeting, Burt announced a further contribution of £3 million by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) towards demining work in Sri Lanka.

Burt announced that the British High Commission (BHC) in Colombo would be launching websites in Sinhala and Tamil languages later in the day, which, along with the existing English language website, would cater to the Sri Lankan population. The websites would contain information on key aspects of the BHC’s work in Sri Lanka, including visa information and updated news releases.

Minister Alistair Burt MP is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister for South Asia and is currently in Sri Lanka for a two-day visit. This is the first Ministerial visit to Sri Lanka by the UK coalition government.