- Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, explained to the Cabinet on matters relating to his recent visit to the Republic of Korea as a Special Envoy of H.E. the President. He stated that the objective of the visit was to further consolidate economic ties, particularly for the economic programme that has been undertaken, and to strengthen the co-operation between the two countries on technical and human resources development. He also stated that the Korean Government was willing to expedite projects already undertaken and to encourage more Korean investors to invest in Sri Lanka through facilitation and loan support packages. Cabinet also noted that the Korean Government has provided a sum of US $340 million during the period from 2008 to 2012 and a further US $290 million is to be provided upto 2015 and that around 25,000 Sri Lankan workers are employed in Korea, thereby providing a considerable amount of foreign exchange to the country.