Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe inviting President Maithripala Sirisena to attend the 42nd G7 summit will be of great importance to the country as it will immensely help build Sri Lanka's image internationally, Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said.
Addressing a press conference at the Government Information Department yesterday, Minister Samarasinghe said that the President would derive the maximum use of the rare opportunity he is due to receive.
“We never expected that our President would be invited to participate in the G7 Summit nor did he make any request from the Japanese PM to participate in the summit. Therefore, as a small country which is still in the process of development and which is on the threshold of a strong economy all Sri Lankans could be proud of this invitation to the President irrespective of political differences,” Samarasinghe said.
The minister said that the present national government had received a huge recognition and co-operation from the international community when compared to the previous government, due to the practical foreign strategies adopted by the present President and the Prime Minister.
“Some predicted that the present government would break up our friendly ties with China once they come to power. But it didn’t happen and China had agreed to assist Sri Lanka unconditionally which is clear proof of the strong relationship we maintain with them” he added.
Addressing the media, State Minister of Science, Technology and Research Lakshman Seneviratne added that he witnessed certain instances during the Rajapaksa government when some countries refused to extend their help to Sri Lanka in Geneva.
“But today we are happy that the countries who rejected us are coming forward to help us in our long run towards development and this would surely draw a large amount of foreign investments to the country,” the State Minister said.
The Group of Seven (G7) was officially established in 1985 to facilitate economic cooperation among the world's largest industrial nations.
The members of G7 comprise Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States; the countries that are the seven major advanced economies, as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
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