Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra has met senior representatives of BIMSTEC member states to discuss ways to strengthen regional cooperation in public health.
The meeting took place today (10) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo, where Deputy Minister Hemachandra received a collective courtesy call from the visiting delegation.
Led by Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, the delegation included senior health officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the inaugural BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Health, currently taking place in Colombo, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Discussions covered several areas of regional cooperation, including the sharing of expertise and resources, strengthening institutional capacity and improving preparedness for future public health emergencies.
Deputy Minister Hemachandra highlighted Sri Lanka’s role as a founding member of BIMSTEC and its leadership in Science, Technology and Innovation.
He also reaffirmed the country’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation through initiatives such as the BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Colombo and the proposed BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence on Public Health.
BIMSTEC Secretary General Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, representatives of the BIMSTEC Secretariat and officials from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attended the meeting.
