First Round of Senior Officials’ Talks between Sri Lanka, Australia concludes

The First Round of Senior Officials’ Talks between Sri Lanka and Australia was held on 16 December 2015 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. The Senior Officials’ Talks between the two countries served as the first formal process to comprehensively review the bilateral relationship spanning over six decades. The talks broadly focused on bilateral trade, investment and economic diplomacy, development partnership, Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process, including regional and multilateral issues. Identifying new areas of cooperation under Australia’s future development assistance priorities for Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Government’s new policies for growth and development, both sides agreed to further build on the added momentum in the bilateral partnership, follow-up on the discussions and regularly review progress. The next Senior Officials’ Talks will be held in the first quarter of 2017. The Australian delegation was led by Mr. Ric Wells, Deputy Secretary of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Sri Lanka delegation by Mr. Ranjith Uyangoda, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Australian delegation also included H.E. Ms. Robyn Mudie, Australia’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Mr. Tim Huggins, Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Jonathan Muir, Director (Sri Lanka and Maldives), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and representatives of Austrade. On the Sri Lankan side, representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Higher Education and Highways, Law & Order and Southern Development, Sports, Finance, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs, Defense, including the Board of Investment, Sri Lanka Export Development Board, Sri Lanka Tea Board, Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, National Livestock Development Board, Department of Commerce, Road Development Authority and Sri Lankan Airlines participated. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Colombo 17 December 2015