Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today left for Kathmandu to participate in the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation-BIMSTEC summit scheduled to begin tomorrow.
Sri Lanka will take over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC at the conclusion of the summit from the current chair, Nepal. Sri Lanka is the lead country for the technology sector, where the establishment of a BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility (TTF) in Sri Lanka is under consideration.
This facility seeks to expand the technology base of member states through collaboration and partnerships targeted towards micro, small and medium scale enterprises. Sri Lankan President is leading a delegation including state minister of foreign affairs Vasantha Senanayake, and senior officials.
During his stay in Nepal, President Sirisena will be meeting his Nepali counterpart President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and the Prime Minister of Nepal Khadga Prasad Oli. He will also be visiting Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.