(UDHAYAM, JAKARTA) – President Maithripala Sirisena arrived in Indonesia yesterday (6th March) to participate in the 20th Anniversary Summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in which Sri Lanka is a founding member.
This will be followed by a State Visit on 8 March. A State Visit to Indonesia takes place after 40 years, since Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s visit in 1976.
President Sirisena will be welcomed at Merdeka Palace with a Guard of Honour, followed by a bilateral meeting with President Joko Widodo and a luncheon banquet on 8th March.
Two MoUs on Marine and Fisheries Cooperation and Traditional Industrial Cooperation respectively, and a Joint Communiqué on Voluntary International Cooperation to Prevent Illegal Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Fishing and to Promote Sustainable Fisheries Governance is due to be signed between the two countries. President Sirisena will gift 25 Eye Corneas from Sri Lanka to those in need in Indonesia as a gesture of goodwill.
The President will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, State Ministers V.S. Radhakrishnan, Sujeewa Senasinghe and Dilip Wedaarachchi.