• In 1976, Norway initiated a government-to-government development cooperation 
• NorFund would provide more assistance once further collaborative programmes have been worked out

Norway on Wednesday assured Sri Lanka that although it will close down its embassy in Colombo next year, the development assistance under NORAD and NorFund and other forms of aid will continue.   

The assurance was given by the Norwegian Ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskelad who called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday, the PM office said.   

The Prime Minister thanked the envoy, for Norwegian support to Sri Lanka for a period of over 60 years, which began in the 1960s through NGO cooperation in the fisheries sector. In 1976, Norway initiated a government-to-government development cooperation in which an integrated rural development programme in the southern district of Hambantota became the flagship.   

Ms Eskelad said the NorFund would provide more assistance once further collaborative programmes have been worked out.  An estimate of the PSD portfolio in Sri Lanka indicates an average grant funding of about NOK 25 million per annum during the 2000s, or about 10-15% of the total Norwegian development assistance during the period.   

The Prime Minister urged Norway to consider investments in fisheries, renewable energy and agriculture in addition to the information technology and marine and ocean sciences.