First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan who will be 62 years old today. This year marks a historic milestone in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, as we celebrate its 70th anniversary. On this special occasion, it is my great privilege to offer my sincere prayers for the health, happiness and prosperity of His Majesty together with my best wishes for the friendship between Japan and Sri Lanka which has stood the test of times.

Although last year, 2021, was a very challenging year for all of us due to the global pandemic, Japan and Sri Lanka have been able to further strengthen our bonds of friendship. Looking back at some of the highlights from last year, I take pleasure in mentioning our cooperation in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the provision of COVID Vaccines and the Opening of the New Kelani Bridge.

Against unprecedented difficulties posed by the pandemic, Sri Lankan Olympians and Paralympians rose above these challenges to win and stand on the stage of their dreams. The Gold Medal with a world record won by Paralympian Dinesh Priyantha in the javelin throw event has opened a new page in the sports history of Sri Lanka, and I am happy to note that their moments of national glory shall be remembered along with the ever-lasting memories of Tokyo 2020 Games.

Sri Lanka has recently marked the first year anniversary of the vaccination program which was a huge success story and I am glad that Japan could contribute to Sri Lanka’s successful vaccination programme by providing the AstraZeneca vaccine in July last year.

As we all know, Japan and Sri Lanka have been in friendly relations for many years, and we are, in other words, truly "Kalyana Mitrayas” (Best Friends in Shinhalese). The new Kelani Bridge, named "Golden Gate Kalyani Bridge", the symbol of this "best friend (Kalyana Mitraya)", was inaugurated last November. We believe that the bridge, the first extradosed bridge in Sri Lanka, will be a new landmark at the gateway to Colombo and will make a significant contribution to the economic development of Sri Lanka.

However, it is not our only achievement in the economic cooperation. We have accomplished the Bandaranaike International Airport Improvement Project Phase 2 Package B, Kandy City Wastewater Management Project as well. We have achieved all these projects with the cooperation of Ministers present here, Secretaries and officials of the Government of Sri Lanka.

As I mentioned earlier, as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations this year, Japan and Sri Lanka have embarked upon a new journey of friendship. Our valued partnership, which sprang from the sacred verse in Dhammapada - “Hatred ceases not by hatred but by love” at the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951, has been growing from strength to strength over the last 7 decades. We will further fortify our time-honoured friendship through jointly organizing a series of events throughout the year, and we will advance towards the future in various fields.

In this context, we are moving towards digitalization of TV broadcasting of Sri Lanka through the DTTB (Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting) project with the Government of Sri Lanka. I sincerely hope that this project will be another iconic symbol of “Sri Lanka and Japan” friendship.

Finally, as a landmark development between the two countries in this year, I am very pleased to introduce to you a new status of ‘Residence Visas’ in Japan for Sri Lankans i.e. “Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visas” from January 2022. The SSW status is a new endeavor of people-to-people interaction through which both Japan and Sri Lanka will benefit. Through the SSW, the people of Sri Lanka will be able to travel to Japan to work in the industries of nursing care and food services. 

As a true friend of Sri Lanka, Japan shall further explore avenues to widen and deepen our business relations, trade and investments and will continue to support the economic and social development in Sri Lanka.