Cities of Colombo and Sakai to be linked

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The City of Colombo will be linked with the City of Sakai in Osaka, Japan on a ‘sister relationship’ basis by August this year. This link is expected to boost Sri Lanka’s investment and tourism prospects immensely.

The Special Commis-sioner of the Colombo Municipal Council Omar Kamil said the linking would hugely pave the way for Sri Lanka to benefit in terms of promoting Japanese investors while it would also open the doors for more tourists from Japan.

He said that tourism-wise, this new arrangement would enable Sri Lanka to add to the projected 100,000 target of Japanese tourists this year as the leading caterer from the East Asian region.

Last year, Japan accounted for the highest number of tourist arrivals of the East Asia region.

Kamil said that Sri Lanka would also benefit in terms of securing free equipment ranging from machinery relating to various fields like technology and health, together with inter-exchange programmes.

It will also pave the way for Sri Lankan State employees visiting Sakai to study their technological and cultural advancements.

A high powered seven-member Japanese mayors’ delegation from the city of Sakai headed by Kato Hitoshi has held discussions with the Special Commissioner last week. Following these discussions a four-member Sri Lankan delegation headed by the Special Commissioner, a Professor and two graduates conversant in the Japanese language from the Kelaniya University are to visit Sakai in July or August to sign the agreement between the cities.

The Special Commissioner said that the Sri Lankan delegates were handpicked by the Japanese delegation which visited the Kelaniya University.