12 August 2023 12:00 am Views - 214
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has underlined the importance of data-based research to guide government policymaking, noting that if such practice had been followed, particularly in regard to the economy, Sri Lanka would have averted the crisis which it faced.
The Minister said it is important to conduct research, present papers, debate openly and within closed doors, in order to make the right decisions.
The Minister made this observation when he delivered the inaugural address at the launching of the ‘LKI Foreign Policy Forum’, a quarterly flagship event of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI) held on Thursday (9) at the LKI Lighthouse Auditorium. This launch coincided with the 18th death anniversary of the Late Lakshman Kadirgamar which falls on 12 August 2023.
Noting that the LKI was initiated in 2000 as the Sri Lanka Institute of Strategic Studies by the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister Ali Sabry said following the late Minister’s assassination the institute was renamed in 2006, to honour the services he had rendered to the country. He said the legacy of Lakshman Kadirgamar lives through the Institute, and that in remembering him, it was important to work with the same diligence, enthusiasm and dedication.
Executive Director of LKI Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, who delivered the welcome remarks, noted that in a rapidly changing world, the new platform could contribute to build ‘common ground’ and develop a ‘Sri Lankan perspective’ on issues. He said these were goals late Foreign Minister Kadirgamar was committed to in his lifetime and trusted an institute of the nature of LKI would fulfil beyond his time. He said, besides several other LKI flagship projects being undertaken on a periodic basis, the Institute has put in place a comprehensive ‘LKI Research Programme’ under 4 pillars - Global Governance, Global Economy, Global Peace & Security and Global Relations. He noted that in addition to the institution’s resident research staff, the LKI will draw on relevant academics and issue experts, in order to build a network that could contribute to the development of foreign policy options and enable a public discourse, that could evolve strategies to better serve the country and the global community.
The event was attended by the State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, the Acting Foreign Secretary U.L.M. Jauhar, and a representative gathering comprising of heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations, government officials, academics, business leaders, civil society, media practitioners, as well as students.