S. Korea promises assistance for Sri Lanka in education, health, renewable energy & employment

Ambassador of South Korea, Miyon Lee has called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in Colombo on Wednesday (10) to discuss the follow-up actions on the decisions taken during the Sri Lankan Premier’s visit last week.

While in South Korea, Gunawardena held discussions with his counterpart Han Duck-soo, Speaker of National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo, Governor of Gyengsangbuk-do Province Lee Cheol-woo and former Secretary General of the United Nations and current President and Chair of Green Growth Institute, Ban Ki-moon.

During these bilateral discussions, South Korea agreed to increase support to Sri Lanka in several sectors including education, health, renewable energy, employment, agriculture and rural development.

On the request of PM Gunawardena, South Korea agreed to provide smart classrooms to 1,000 schools in Sri Lanka to assist the government’s efforts to develop information technology education at the school level.

Additionally, South Korea will also send doctors and medical teams for short-term medical practices at government hospitals and to share their expertise with Sri Lankan doctors.

Ambassador Lee asserted that her country would work on a few new development projects in Sri Lanka in addition to early completion of the ongoing projects.

She said three projects on water treatment, sanitation, sewage disposal systems and dry zone agriculture have already been implemented. South Korea will also undertake a floating solar panel instalment on Chandrika Wewa in Ratnapura District as a pilot project in renewable energy.

Further, the South Korean leaders have agreed to increase the employment quota for Sri Lankan workers, both in skilled/professional sectors as well as the seasonal agriculture sector.

The Prime Minister thanked the South Korean government for the excellent cooperation and hospitality extended during his brief visit.