President Maithripala Sirisena says that the government is committed without any reservations to upgrade, develop and maintain the domestic aviation industry in conformity with the applicable international standards. 

“All possible measures will be taken for their effective implementation to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and economy”, he said, addressing the 53rd Conference of Directors General of Civil Aviation of Asia and Pacific States held at the Hilton Colombo, today (01).

He stated that there is a need to improve the safety and security management systems. “We have a relatively good safety, maintenance record with no major incidents to be concerned with.” 

“Nevertheless, aviation safety remains our top priority.” We regularly review and update our policies on safety and enhance technology usage, he added.

Following is the full text of the speech:

Good Morning and a pleasant day to you. May I, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka, warmly welcome you, with our traditional greeting of Ayubowan, Vannakam and Asvaleyi Mallikkum, to the 53rd Conference of the Directors General of Civil Aviation of the Asia-Pacific Region. In addition, I wish you a happy and most memorable stay in this beautiful island of Sri Lanka.

It is our distinct honour and privilege that we are hosting this very important Conference for the second time in Sri Lanka after an interval of 25 years.

I am extremely confident that this meeting would become a significant and crucial forum in promoting inter and intra-regional cooperation and a tool for coordination in the very important field of civil aviation.

My government committed without any reservations to upgrade, develop and maintain the domestic aviation industry in conformity with the applicable international standards. All possible measures will be taken for their effective implementation to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I request international civil aviation players like ICAO to focus attention on the need to plan and develop human resources required to face the future needs of the aviation industry. I believe the needs of countries like ours have to get priority in such exercises. In addition, integrating business development is another area, which will benefit us and I wish you would focus on it too.

Concurrently, we need to improve the safety and security management systems. We have a relatively good safety maintenance record with no major incidents to be concerned with. Nevertheless, aviation safety remains our top priority. We regularly review and update our policies on safety and enhance technology usage.

My government and I would like to re-assure the commitment of Sri Lanka to advance the development of international civil aviation in harmony with the principles and objectives declared in the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

I am glad to observe that your conference will focus on diverse subjects in a very fitting and timely manner, with the participation of experts.

Finally, I wish all your deliberations in the next five days will be extremely rewarding and fruitful and bring new dimensions to the civil aviation industry in our region.