Ambassador Alan L. Deniega presented his Letter of Credence to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, at formal ceremonies held at the President’s House in Colombo on 1 February 2022.
The presentation was preceded by a call on the Chief of Protocol, Mr. Senarath Dissanayake, and the officials of the Presidential Secretariat.
Ambassador Deniega congratulated President Rajapaksa on the upcoming celebrations for the 74th Independence Day of Sri Lanka.
After the ceremony, Ambassador Deniega met with Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris and discussed the close relationship between the Philippines and Sri Lanka, including how to move it forward given the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in January last year, and the expected normalization of the pandemic situation in most parts of the world. Among the key areas of cooperation are economic development (including sharing of technical expertise in agricultural matters), defense cooperation and counterterrorism, people-to-people exchanges (especially tourism), and environmental protection.
The Ambassador also thanked Sri Lankan government officials for their assistance in looking after the concerns and welfare of the Filipinos based in Sri Lanka, especially during the repatriation flights to the Philippines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
