Follow-up to Davos Summit:

High level SL delegation visits WEF

Following the participation of a delegation led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January, a Sri Lankan delegation comprising senior government officials and representatives of the private sector engaged in a two-day follow-up meeting at the World Economic Forum's headquarters in Geneva from March 21-22.

Coordinated by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, the visit was aimed at strengthening the engagement between Sri Lanka and the WEF and also to identify specific areas of engagement.

The WEF is the world's leading 'platform' that brings global political, private sector and thought leaders together to engage, discuss and deliberate and learn from each other. The delegation met the Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Prof. Klaus Schwab and several Managing Directors and senior teams representing different initiatives of the international organisation.

The discussions centered on engagement by Sri Lanka across several areas of the WEF initiatives: Economic Growth and Social Inclusion, International Trade and Investment, Agriculture and Food Security, Future of Production Systems and the Future of Internet.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha emphasised the importance of collaborating with the WEF to ensure tangible benefits to Sri Lanka.

The delegation led by Managing Director (Designate), Agency for Development, Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, Mangala Yapa, included Director General, Department of Commerce, Sonali Wijeratne, Director General, Department of Agriculture, Dr. Rohan Wijekoon, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Asitha Seneviratne, Member of the Board of the ICT Agency, Dr. Ajith Madurapperuma and Chief Economist, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Anushka Wijesinha.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the WTO, Ambassador R. D. S. Kumararatne, Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Samantha Jayasuriya and Second Secretary Mafusa Lafir, were also present.

The Sri Lanka delegation also discussed opportunities for Sri Lankan government agencies and Sri Lankan companies to engage in future WEF initiatives.

The World Economic Forum has invited several policymakers of Sri Lanka to attend the 25th World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Kuala Lumpur on June 1 and 2 and the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, in Tianjin, People's Republic of China from June 26-18.

The delegation also met officials of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and UN Institute for Research and Training (UNITAR), to explore potential areas for cooperation and also a representative of Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).