Sri Lanka has stepped into a new era as a confident nation with a robust economy and Sri Lankans of all ethnicities, living in every part of Sri Lanka are free from fear said Minister of National Heritage, Dr. Jagath Balasuriya said.
Addressing the General Policy Debate of the 36 the session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) he said after elimination of three decades of ruthless terrorism, Sri Lanka stands as the only country in the world to have successfully defeated terrorism in recent years.
" I am proud to state that the GDP growth of the country has been consistent at 8% and the country has been upgraded to the 52 nd place by the World Economic Forum in its Global Competitiveness Report for 2011 to 2012. Sri Lanka is now well on its way to forge national unity, having resettled a vast majority of Internally Displaced Persons and rehabilitated all of former LTTE combatants, the greater part of who have been reintegrated into society", he said.
He said Sri Lanka could not remain immune to any of these global problems. " Having suffered a massive natural disaster in the form of the 2004 tsunami, while trying to achieve the MDGs within the stipulated time frame, Sri Lanka is a country that has managed to achieve middle income status despite all this, showing the country’s immense perseverance", Dr. Balasuriya said.
He also said the aim of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was to strive for future generations that are trilingual, so as to ensure better understanding among all its countrymen. "To this end, the Government of Sri Lanka will be launching its tri-lingual policy in November of 2011. Enhanced efforts are being made to identify, protect and promote the cultural heritage of the minority communities", he said.