The areas of cooperation included Information and Communication Technology, Development of infrastructure facilities at the harbour including the Eastern Terminal, Exrpressways, agriculture, digitalization of television, disaster prevention and defence cooperation The Japanese Foreign Minister while congratulating the President on his election victory said that Sri Lanka is a special friend of Japan.
He also invited the President to undertake a visit to Japan. Motegi Toshimitsu said Japan is hosting a forum in May next year and it would be an ideal opportunity for the new President to visit his country.he Japanese Foreign Minister expressed confidence that bilateral ties will further flourish under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
“A bipartite mechanism would be established for the effective implementation and monitoring the development projects which were agreed upon by the two governments,” the Foreign Minister said .The visiting Foreign Minister expressed hope that this initiative will also help introduce Japanese companies to Sri Lanka which are equipped with cutting edge technology.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in turn said that Sri Lanka is blessed with a highly educated and talented workforce though the country’s economy is small. “My intention is to build a labour centric workforce for the creation of a technologically advanced economy,”the President said. He added that Sri Lanka is open for the investors in regional countries including India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and Singapore.
The President also said that the Indian Ocean region should remain a conflict free zone and Sri Lanka wants to stay out of conflicts between the world powers.The Japanese Foreign Minister reiterates that Japan always stands for peace, stability and reconciliation among the communities.Japanese Ambassador in Colombo Sugiyama Akira, Executive Assistant of the Japanese Minister Matano Motosoado and Secretary to the President Dr.P.B.Jayasundera were present.