The Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Trine Jøranli Eskedal called on the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena at the Parliament yesterday.
She congratulated Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on being elected as the Speaker of the Ninth Parliament and they discussed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy.
Ambassador Eskedal and the Speaker also exchanged their views on potential exchanges between parliamentarians in future. The Norwegian envoy pointed out that previously as part of a program by the Oslo Centre, a group of Sri Lankan MPs visited the Norwegian Parliament and met with representatives from various political parties, with the aim of identifying valuable and parallel lessons from the Norwegian context in consensus and coalition building.
She underscored the importance to learn from practical experiences of various countries and to get exposure to addressing challenges faced in different parliaments, and expressed Norway’s willingness to share learnings from their parliamentary experience.
They also discussed about economic development, the maritime sector, female representation in parliament, and ways to further the bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and Norway. Deputy Head of Mission of the Norwegian Embassy Hilde Berg-Hansen, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake and senior officials from the Parliament were also present at the meeting.
(FT)