On the occasion of LNBTI Nihon Star Awarding Ceremony2021

　　　
His Excellency Sanjiv Gunasekera, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan.
Mr. KOGA Michio, Chairman, Lanka Nippon BizTech Institute (LNBTI)
Mr. Dinesh Saparamadhu, Deputy Chairman, LNBTI
Mr. Saman Kumara, Director, LNBTI
Prof. Ananda Kumara, Advisor, LNBT
Distinguished academic staff,
Fellow students and parents from LNBTI and other schools,
 
　Good evening, Ayu Bowan, Wanakkam, こんばんは。
 
　Thank you very much for inviting me to the "Nihon Star" Awarding Ceremony this evening. I visited the LNBTI in 2019 to join the Japanese Cultural Festival (the Japanese Day).  It is my great pleasure to be back, virtually this time, to the LNBTI.  First, I would like to commend Mr. KOGA, Chairman of the LNBTI and his team for organizing this event successfully in the midst of unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19. And, congratulations to the participants of the Japanese Language Teaching Training Program for finishing the course, and the fellow students for being selected as awardees for their work and Japanese fine art and performing art.
 
　IT experts, especially young ones, are expected to be in high demand in Japan.  According to the recent survey by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan on the supply and demand of IT human resources, the shortage of IT engineers in Japan will reach a maximum of 790,000 over the next 10 years.  This result shows that the IT industry is not an exception when it comes to the shortage of labor force in Japan due to the aging population.  I believe that foreign IT professionals will play a critical role in filling this gap, especially because Japanese IT companies, which increasingly seek business opportunities in overseas markets, are in need of highly skilled foreign IT experts.
 
　In addition, in Japan, IT engineers are in the late 30s in average, relatively younger compared with other engineers.  Thus, there is high demand for young IT professionals in Japan.
 
　Sri Lankan IT engineers are highly acclaimed in the world.  For example, as I understand, a Sri Lankan IT firm has provided an electronic trading system for the London Stock Exchange.  I am sure that more Japanese IT companies will be interested in hiring Sri Lankan IT engineers.
 
　I believe that the LNBTI will contribute to producing excellent IT engineers expected to work in Japan, by providing unique curriculum combining IT education and Japanese language training.  Since Japanese companies place high importance on Japanese language skills when hiring foreign IT engineers, LNBTI graduates who have acquired both high-level IT expertise and Japanese language skills would match the demand of such Japanese companies.

　When I joined the LNBTI's Japanese Cultural Festival (Japanese Day) in 2019, I was impressed by the LNBTI students’ enthusiastic interest in learning Japanese culture.   Today, I have just heard the wonderful performance of Japanese songs and I look forward to the upcoming performance of Japanese art.  I hope that the LNBTI students will deepen their understanding of Japanese culture, which will help them study and work better in Japan.   
 
　For your information, next year 2022 will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka. Availing to the fullest the powerful momentum of this landmark year, we hope to work together to further strengthen our bilateral relationship, including friendly people-to-people exchanges between our two countries.
 
　Last but not least, I would like to reiterate that the Japanese Embassy will continue to extend support for the LNBTI’s valuable activities which contribute to enhancing mutual understanding between our two countries.
 
　Thank you very much for your kind attention.