PM praises British envoy’s efforts to promote UK-Sri Lanka ties

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena with the outgoing High Commissioner of the United Kingdom Sarah Hulton 

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Monday thanked the outgoing High Commissioner of the United Kingdom Sarah Hulton for her persistent efforts to strengthen friendly relations between Sri Lanka and UK.

He said this when the High Commissioner paid a farewell call on him.

Gunawardena said that the untiring efforts of the High Commissioner to further strengthen the Sri Lanka and UK bilateral partnership, were praiseworthy. During her assignment in Sri Lanka since 2019, a strong presence of the UK in Sri Lanka was maintained with engagement in diverse areas, he said.

High Commissioner Sarah Hulton said in this meeting that the support extended by Gunawardena during his tenure as the Foreign Affairs Minister and Education Minister as well as during his tenure as the current Prime Minister was a great strength for the bilateral relations between the two countries.

He welcomed the UK’s decision to include Sri Lanka as a beneficiary country under the UK GSP Scheme “Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS)”. By this scheme duty concessions will be given for 92% of Sri Lankan exports. Premier Gunawardena said Sri Lanka hopes that new investment projects will be initiated by the UK following the conclusion of the debt restructuring process and the unlocking of the IMF fund facility. He added that Sri Lanka encourages UK investment in sectors such as education, banking and financial services, IT/BPM, pharmaceuticals, hospitality and tourism.

The Prime Minister wished the High Commissioner Hulton every success in her future endeavours.

The Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake also attended the meeting.