The Government of Sri Lanka will host the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit in Colombo in hybrid mode next week from 28-30 March 2022.

Discussions focused on Sri Lanka’s Digital Economy and Startup Ecosystem

The Committee on Public Accounts stressed to the Colombo Municipal Council that a proper action plan should be approved and implemented as per the instructions of Public Finance Circular No. 01/2014 in line with the Annual Budget.

The official handing over of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) equipment to the Information Fusion Centre (IFC - Colombo) established at Navy Headquarters was held withthe distinguished presence of the Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, HE Mizukoshi Hideaki and Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne (25th March
2022).

Sri Lanka comprises a 1340 km coastline with 510,000 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Search and Rescue Region (SAR) which is about 27 times of landmass. Further,
a large number of ships passes through the southern tip of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean. In this backdrop, Sri Lanka has a bounden responsibility to ensure maritime security of
this vast ocean region.

IFC Colombo facilitates cooperation collaboration and sharing of maritime information between local and international stakeholders to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness. The
provision of MDA equipment came about as part of the Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), through the
sponsorship of the Government of Japan. Meanwhile, the IFC Colombo will be able to improve its operational efficiency, with the introduction of this new set of equipment.

On the sidelines of the receipt of MDA equipment, the launching of the official website of the IFC Colombo (https://www.ifccolombo.org) was also held under the auspices of
Commander of the Navy at the Information Fusion Centre today.

Chief of Staff of the Navy, Rear Admiral YN Jayarathne, Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Prasanna Mahawithana, senior naval officers from Navy Headquarters,
Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Japan, Captain Fukaura Gaku, Programme Coordinator at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Ms Pernille Rasmussen and a group of
officials were present on this occasion