President to visit Japan, give South Asian perspective at ‘The Future of Asia’

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit Japan in May and participate at the global conference “The future of Asia” by becoming one of the first leaders from South Asia to bring fresh insight to the conference, the President’s Media Division said.

Japanese Ambassador Akira Sugiyama who met with President Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday said the Japanese Government will ensure that President Rajapaksa’s visit would be successful and productive.

The PMD said President Rajapaksa would be participating at “The future of Asia” conference, which is to be held in Tokyo on May 28-29.

This two-day event where government leaders, business executives and academics from Asia Pacific share their visions for a better region, is an annual event since 1995.

“In the past, this conference had largely focused on North-east Asia and South-east Asia. President Rajapaksa would be one of the first leaders from South Asia to bring fresh insight to this conference,” the PMD said.

The two governments are keen to make use of this opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. This will include a one-to-one meeting with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe. Ambassador Sugiyama also assured that arrangements will be made for President Rajapaksa to meet the Japanese business community and the media.

The projects that are in the pipeline such as the digitalizing of National Television, the Colombo Port East Terminal and the proposed LNG projects were also discussed.