Message by Ambassador MIZUKOSHI Hideaki
2022/12/30
Ayubowan, Wannakham,
It is with great pride and honour that we conclude this memorable year 2022 in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka.
Although this year turned out to be the most challenging year for Sri Lanka since independence due to the economic crisis and political turmoil, I am confident to say that our bond of friendship became stronger than ever through various cooperation and events between the two nations. I sincerely would like to thank the government of Sri Lanka, all the stakeholders and Japan related organization for all the support.
One area where we saw significant progress in our bilateral relationship was Japanese language education in Sri Lanka. Some universities started new Japanese language courses and the government of Sri Lanka decided to introduce Japanese language from intermediate level up to grade 9 as an ordinary subject. We have seen a dramatic rise in the applicants to Japanese Language Proficiency Test this year reaching 17,000 tripling the number of applicants of the last test. I would like to take advantage of this momentum to expand our people to people exchange, which has stagnated since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in the forthcoming year of 2023.
Japan is ready to support Sri Lanka in this difficult situation just like late president J. R. Jayewardene and people of Sri Lanka stood by us 70 years ago and helped Japan reinstated in the international community with a spirit of reconciliation, fairness, and generosity, and placed Japan on the track of rapid postwar reconstruction.
Let me conclude by expressing my sincere hopes for even closer collaboration between Japan and Sri Lanka in 2023 and wishing you a happy new year.
It is with great pride and honour that we conclude this memorable year 2022 in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka.
Although this year turned out to be the most challenging year for Sri Lanka since independence due to the economic crisis and political turmoil, I am confident to say that our bond of friendship became stronger than ever through various cooperation and events between the two nations. I sincerely would like to thank the government of Sri Lanka, all the stakeholders and Japan related organization for all the support.
One area where we saw significant progress in our bilateral relationship was Japanese language education in Sri Lanka. Some universities started new Japanese language courses and the government of Sri Lanka decided to introduce Japanese language from intermediate level up to grade 9 as an ordinary subject. We have seen a dramatic rise in the applicants to Japanese Language Proficiency Test this year reaching 17,000 tripling the number of applicants of the last test. I would like to take advantage of this momentum to expand our people to people exchange, which has stagnated since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in the forthcoming year of 2023.
Japan is ready to support Sri Lanka in this difficult situation just like late president J. R. Jayewardene and people of Sri Lanka stood by us 70 years ago and helped Japan reinstated in the international community with a spirit of reconciliation, fairness, and generosity, and placed Japan on the track of rapid postwar reconstruction.
Let me conclude by expressing my sincere hopes for even closer collaboration between Japan and Sri Lanka in 2023 and wishing you a happy new year.