Colombo city to twin with Sakai city
by Ranil Wijayapala
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Colombo Municipal Council Special Commissioner Omar Kamil in
conversation with Japanese delegates
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The City of Colombo and Japanese city of Sakai will sign a Memorandum
of Understanding to commence a sister city program for both the cities
to benefit from each other and thus improve cultural and economic ties,
Colombo Municipal Council Special Commissioner Omar Kamil said.
A delegation from Sakai in the Osaka perfecture visited Colombo this
week to initiate preliminary discussions with regard to the program on
an invitation extended to them by the Sri Lanka High Commissioner to
Philipines, Navalage Benette Cooray.
The delegation was led by Kato Hitoshi on behalf of the Mayor of
Sakai with the intention of building a relationship between Colombo and
the city of Sakai under the sister city program.
"They want to link up the two cities. We have learn a lot from
Japanese cities which are far advanced, extremely well organised and
disciplined," Kamil added.
"They feel that there is special closeness between the Japanese
people and Sri Lanka and therefore it is very necessary to have
linkages, he added.
The delegation during their visit to the Colombo Municipal Council
met engineers, accountants, medical officers and other officials. The
delegation also met the steering committee members and discussed the
programs adopted by the city.
In order to improve cultural ties between the two cities the
delegation also wanted to nominate a professor and two students
conversant in Japanese language to visit Sakai and spend three weeks to
learn more of their culture.
Omar Kamil, Special Commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council
with the head of the delegation Kato Hitoshi, Chief Director, Sakai
International Interchange Association at the Mayor's Centre, Colombo 7. |
