Message from the Honorary Consul General for Iceland in Sri Lanka

It gives me great pleasure to send felicitations, on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, to H.E. Benedikt Höskuldsson, Ambassador-designate of Iceland to Sri Lanka, the Government and the people of Iceland on this their 81st National Day. Iceland is said to have broken away from Danish rule in 1944; since then, the country has celebrated its independence on the 17th of June of each year, the birthday of the freedom fighter Jón Sigurðsson.

- Parakrama Sujan Wijewardene

Diplomatic links between Iceland and Sri Lanka were established in 1998.

Sri Lanka started benefitting from this relationship from the very next year, 1999 two Fisheries Professionals attended a 6 month, Post Graduate programme in the fields of Quality Management of Fish Handling and Processing and Fishing Technology in Reykjavik, Iceland. Since then, 30 such Professionals have attended programmes in different areas, such as Fisheries Policy & Management, Quality Management of Fish Handling Processing, Fish Technology, Aquatic Resource Assessment and Monitoring, Sustainable Aquaculture a.o. These programmes are conducted by the FTP (Fisheries Training Programme) division of the GRO (Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Societal Change)

In 2011, an Engineer attended a 6 month, Post Graduate programme in the field of Reservoir Engineering offered by the GRO GTP (Geothermal Power) division. Subsequently, three others attended programmes such as Geological Exploration and Geophysical Exploration. The last participation in this programme by a Sri Lankan was in 2015.