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| Sunday, 25 August 2002 |
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Norwegian envoy very positive on peace talks by Hambantota spl correspondent Acting Ambassador of Norway in Sri Lanka and the Charge d'Affairs Oddavar Laegreid addressing at the inauguration of the second day of the "Isuru Asiri" exhibition at the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC) premises recently said that the desire and commitment to succeed in the peace process is strong on both sides of the conflict and that the ceasefire agreement has held for six months. "We are cautiously optimistic that peace will be achieved through negotiations that will commence in Thailand next month. It will, no doubt be long and hard negotiations. In the meantime it is important that the situation in the country continues to be normalised." Laegreid observed that the best thing to do, for business and the development of the country, is to make sure that peace is finally achieved. Nearly two decades of war has devastated the country and deprived it of development and economic prosperity. The whole country has been adversely affected by the war. The war has engulf resources that could have been invested in education, health and other infrastructure facilities and particularly the war has kept away a lot of foreign capital that could be invested in development activities in Sri Lanka. He emphasised that the realistic hope for peace, bodes well for Sri Lanka and Hambantota, with peace will come increasing prosperity. Hambantota will benefit from the economic upturn that will follow a peaceful settlement of the conflict. "Hambantota has a very active and dynamic business environment today. "We know that we did something right when we assisted in building up the capacity, facilities and services of the Hambantota Enterprise Service Centre which was handed over to the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce in 1999. It now serves the business community in the district and beyond in an excellent manner", he added. |
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