Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has expressed his gratitude to the outgoing High Commissioner of the United Kingdom Sarah Hulton for her persistent efforts to strengthen friendly relations between Sri Lanka and UK.

He said this when the High Commissioner paid a farewell call on the Premier at Temple Trees today (June 19).

The Prime Minister said that the untiring efforts of the High Commissioner to further strengthen the Sri Lanka and UK bilateral partnership, were praiseworthy. 

During her assignment in Sri Lanka since 2019, a strong presence of the UK in Sri Lanka was maintained with engagement in diverse areas, he said.

High Commissioner Sarah Hulton said in this meeting that the support extended by PM Dinesh Gunawardena during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Education as well as during his tenure as the current Prime Minister was a great strength for her to successfully carry out the work to promote bilateral relations between the two countries, the PM’s Office said.

He welcomed the UK’s decision to include Sri Lanka as a beneficiary country under the UK GSP Scheme “Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS)”, under which duty concessions will be given for 92% of Sri Lankan exports. 

Premier Gunawardena said Sri Lanka hopes that new investment projects will be initiated by the UK following the conclusion of the debt restructuring process and the unlocking of the IMF fund facility. 

He added that Sri Lanka encourages UK investment in sectors such as education, banking and financial services, IT/BPM, pharmaceuticals, hospitality and tourism.

The Prime Minister wished the High Commissioner Hulton every success in her future endeavours.

Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake also attended the meeting, the PM’s Office said in a statement.