President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that Australia has pledged assistance for strategic investments and promotion in the education sector in the island nation.

This comes after Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Holly met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday.

“Further the Australian High Commissioner pledged assistance for strategic investments & education sector promotion in Sri Lanka. Attention was drawn on the potential of positioning Sri Lanka as a preferred destination for higher education in the South Asian region,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa wrote in a tweet.

Talking about the damage caused by the fire that erupted in the vessel MV X-Press Pearl in the Sri Lankan water, President Rajapaksa said he was seeking technical assistance from the Australian government to mitigate the environmental damage caused by ship.

“Assistance to assess & mitigate the environmental damage caused by recent vessel accidents in Sri Lankan waters & a future organic fertilizer driven agriculture program was discussed in today’s highly productive meeting with the Australian High Commissioner to #lka David Holly,” he tweeted.

The distressed vessel MV X-Press Pearl was carrying 1,486 containers with nitric acid and other hazardous IMDG code chemicals. The extreme fire, damage to containers and prevailing inclement weather caused the vessel to tilt to starboard resulting in the falling of containers overboard.

Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Holly expressed these views when he called on the President, the PMD reported. 

Two vessel related accidents occurred in Sri Lankan waters in a short period of time. The President stated that Sri Lanka is expecting the Australian Government’s technical assistance to assess the environmental damage caused by these vessel accidents and in the programme launched to create an agriculture solely based on organic fertilizers.

The High Commissioner also drew the President’s attention to the possibility of establishing an export market in Sri Lanka targeting a number of countries including India and the countries in the Middle East by enabling more investment opportunities for value added products.

Recalling the 75 years of friendly relations between Australia and Sri Lanka, High Commissioner Holly said that a plane carrying a consignment of medical equipment donated by the Australian Government for COVID treatment will arrive in Sri Lanka on June 3rd.

First Secretary of the Australian High Commission Armaity Bradley, Defence Adviser Captain Ian Cain, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera and Foreign Secretary Admiral (Retd.) Jayanath Colombage were also present.