The delegation led by Hon. Park Byeong-Seug, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea made a special visit to Parliament today (21) morning to make a courtesy call on Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
The Hon. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana also made a special announcement to the House welcoming Hon. Park Byeong – Seug, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, to Parliament.
Addressing the distinguished delegation, Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana emphasized that an Open Parliament policy has been adopted with the intention of enhancing citizen participation and engagement in the parliamentary process to address the widening gap between the Parliament and the citizens. Adding to it, the Speaker mentioned that measures have been taken to strengthen the parliamentary democratic system which will be useful to ensure the transparency and accountability of the parliamentary process through the newly established Department of Communication and by way of opening sessions of the Committee on Public Enterprises and the Committee on Public Accounts to the media.
The Hon. Speaker further stated that the Parliament of Sri Lanka initiated an ambitious digitalization program enabling multilingual searching and that the e- Library of the Parliament provides platform for a library archival system. Furthermore, the Speaker expressed the intentions of a “Paperless Parliament”.
Adding to it, the Speaker also stated that upgrading of the Parliament website is now in process and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Hon. Park Byeong-Seug, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea while commending the efforts of the Sri Lanka Parliament enhancing citizen participation and engagement, stated that they too are steering towards achieving the same. The Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea also extended an invitation to Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana to visit Korea.
Hon. Prof. G. L. Peiris, Foreign Minister addressing the distinguished gathering emphasized on three tangible benefits given the strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations following the visit of Hon. Park Byeong-Seug. The Foreign Minister stated that this visit has fostered more employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in Korea, vocational training and greater investment and participation by Korean companies in the development of economy in Sri Lanka.
Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Education and Leader of the House of Parliament, Hon. Johnston Fernando, Minister of Highways and Chief Government Whip, Hon. Angajan Ramanathan, Deputy Chairperson of Committees, Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, chief opposition whip, Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, President of the Korea – Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Association, Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, Secretary to the Korea – Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Association, Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva and the Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake was present at this special occasion.
