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Monday December 11th, 2023

Contact Sri Lanka portal to help overseas Sri Lankans launched during Coronavirus crisis

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry and the Information & Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has launched an online portal for the use of overseas Sri Lankans as the world is hit by a Coronavirus pandemic.

“All Sri Lankans living abroad are invited to register voluntarily on the platform’s basic functionalities allowing the Government of Sri Lanka to reach out and provide assistance during emergencies such as the COVID19 outbreak,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“This platform will allow the Ministry to access real time data for quick action.”

The web link is hosted on the Ministry web page www.mfa.gov.lk and also can be accessed at www.contactsrilanka.mfa.gov.lk.

“The open access platform would also facilitate Overseas Sri Lankans to interact between government stakeholders, promoting greater access to the Government services through a single centralized point at the Ministry of Foreign Relations,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“This Portal will also connect Overseas Sri Lankans with the network of Sri Lanka Missions abroad.”

The foreign ministry has assigned a team to work on the portal which can also act as an emergency help desk.

Data on the portal will be protected and will not be shared with anyone, the foreign ministry said.

The platform was developed free of charge by TekGeeks (Pvt) Ltd, a Colombo-based technology company.

“We did the platform because we wanted to help at this time using our capabilities,” a spokesman for TekGeeks said.

“We are grateful to the ICTA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for giving us an opportunity to serve the community.”

“Team was closely working with officials from both ICTA and Ministry of Foreign Relations to develop this platform,”

“Only the initial phase has been deployed live, while people around the globe are registering with the platform we will be rolling out new features.”

The platform is user friendly and easy to navigate the, the ministry said. It will help improve services of the ministry and allow it to respond rapidly in times of emergencies. (Colombo/Mar26/2020)

Comments (3)

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  1. Chandana dilip kumara says:

    I need to come back to Sri Lanka from Italy. Because it is my vacation period now, pls let me know how can I get the flight back home.
    Thank
    Dilip

  2. Jekoyad says:

    That’s fantastic news to know.

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Chandana dilip kumara says:

    I need to come back to Sri Lanka from Italy. Because it is my vacation period now, pls let me know how can I get the flight back home.
    Thank
    Dilip

  2. Jekoyad says:

    That’s fantastic news to know.

Sri Lanka rupee opens at 327.00/50 to the US dollar

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee opened at 327.00/50 to the US dollar on Monday, from 327.00/30 Friday, dealers said.

On the Colombo Stock Exchange, both indices opened up: The All Share Price Index 0.28 percent at 10,823, and the S&P SL20 0.35 percent at 3,113.85.

Bond yields were up.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2026 was quoted at 14.05/20 percent from 14.05/15 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.01.2027 was quoted at 14.05/20 percent from 14.10/25 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.07.2028 was quoted at 14.20/50 percent from 14.20/35 percent.
(Colombo/Dec11/2023)

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Sri Lanka promoting Buddhist tourism from Vietnam, ASEAN

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is planning to boost Buddhist tourism by linking temples in the country with those in East Asia, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said after to welcoming a delegation of monks from Vietnam.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Minister Sabry have initiated a temple-to-temple program where 100 Sri Lanka temples will be linked with counterparts in the Association of South East Asian Nations region.

“Tourism development will get a lot of growth with the temple-to-temple program,” Minister Ali Sabry said.

Along with the delegation of monks, five travel agents from Vietnam were also invited.

Under the first phase of the Temple-to-temple programs, several monks from Sri Lanka had received invitations from Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam the Foreign Ministry said.

The Temple-to-Temple diplomacy program will be extended to Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Cambodia during the second phrase of the program.

Sri Lanka is targeting 2.3 million tourists in 2023, after getting about 1.5 million this year. (Colombo/Dec10/2023)

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ADB $200mn loan for Sri Lanka economic stabilization efforts

ECONOMYNEXT – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US 200 million dollar concessional loan to Sri Lanka to help stabilize the country’s finance sector.

The Financial Sector Stability and Reforms Program comprises two subprograms of IS 200 million dollars each, according to a statement by the ADB.

“The program’s overarching development objective is fully aligned with the country’s strategy of maintaining finance sector stability, while ensuring that banks are well-positioned for eventual recovery,” ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono was quoted as saying in the statement.

“The expected development outcome is a stable financial system providing access to affordable finance for businesses in various sectors of the economy.”

The ADB statement continues:

“Subprogram 1 targets short-term stabilization and crisis management measures that were implemented in 2023, while subprogram 2 is planned to be implemented in 2024 and focuses on structural reforms and long-term actions to restore growth in the banking sector.

The program will help strengthen the stability and governance of the country’s banking sector; improve the banking sector’s asset quality; and deepen sustainable and inclusive finance, particularly for women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest review, Sri Lanka’s economy is showing tentative signs of stabilization, although a full economic recovery is not yet assured.

The program is a follow-on assistance from ADB’s crisis response under the special policy-based loan that was approved for Sri Lanka in May 2023.

It is aligned with the fourth pillar of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility provided to Sri Lanka to help the country regain financial stability.

It is also in line with the government’s reform agenda, including strengthening the operational independence of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and its designation as the country’s macroprudential authority.

In designing this subprogram 1 loan, ADB has maintained close coordination and collaboration with the IMF to design targeted regulatory reforms for the banking sector—including the asset quality review—and with the World Bank on strengthening the deposit insurance scheme.

“The loan is accompanied by a $1 million grant from ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund to provide advisory, knowledge, and institutional capacity building for Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance and CBSL.”
(Colombo/Dec9/2023)

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