Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-du Province of the Republic of South Korea, Lee Cheol Woo met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on 03.04.2024 at the Governor’s office, in Andong in Gyeongsangbuk-du.
The Provincial Government agreed to offer many benefits for education and higher education, agriculture, fisheries, women and rural development in Sri Lanka during the talks. They also discussed the potential for launching investment projects too.
The agreements were reached on providing more smart classrooms for schools, information technology equipment for vocational training institutes for school leavers who do not enrol for higher education, increasing opportunities for university entrance, increasing scholarship opportunities and providing more employment opportunities in Korea for Sri Lankans.
They also discussed possible investments in health, construction sectors, new technology for fisheries sector, providing consultancy on post-harvest damage mitigation, direct and indirect provision for women empowerment activities and the possibility of short-term provision of human resources required in Korea only for the harvesting season, were also among the numerous matters that were discussed.
At the event, the Prime Minister further commented as follows –
"As the Prime Minister, I would like to thank the Governor for giving us this opportunity for visiting a very success story of new economic growth that has been led in this province. The cooperation that has been extended to other countries by Saemaul Foundation and this important voluntary organization, with the blessings of the Governor, many under developed areas of Sri Lanka has benefited, especially Kegalle and Ratnapura in Sabaragamuwa Province has had a very close cooperation for the improvement of education. I am glad that Governor himself visited Sri Lanka and signed this proposal for the welfare of these rural populations. And now it is in the implementation stages for which, we once again would like to thank you and the Saemaul Foundation for taking an initiative in these specific areas and we look forward to taking it further. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe conveys his warm greetings which, I am honoured to mention here because we look forward to working with Korea closely on new technology and new investments applicable to many areas today. We hope this cooperation can be strengthened and taken forward for which I as the Prime Minister is visiting your province along with members of the parliament. So it is a very important visit and an event for Sri Lanka."
Leading officials of Gyeongsangbuk-du and representing Sri Lanka, State Ministers Piyal Nishantha, Anupama Pasqual, MPs Yadamini Gunawardena, Rajika Wickramasinghe, Muditha de Soysa, Jagath Kumara, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, and Sri Lankan Ambassador to South Korea Savithri Panabokke also participated in the discussion.
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