Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2023-10-30

The Joint Statement on the establishment of the International Mediation Organization

- The Government of China has submitted a proposal for the establishment of a treaty-based International Mediation Organization to resolve disputes between States and commercial entities. Accordingly, the Government of China has negotiated with interested countries and Sri Lanka also has participated in some of those preliminary discussions. The preliminary Joint Statement for the establishment of the proposed organization had been issued in July 2022, and the said Joint Statement has been endorsed by about 10 countries, including China. Views have been obtained from other Government institutions including the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms and the Attorney General's Department regarding the endorsement of the said Joint Statement by Sri Lanka, and it has been observed that any impact is not caused to the Sri Lanka's international commitments by endorsing the said Statement. Accordingly, it was decided to grant the concurrence of the Cabinet for the proposal made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to endorse the Joint Statement regarding the establishment of the International Mediation Organization.