Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-04-26

Establishment of a Resident Diplomatic Mission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

- At present, Sri Lanka maintains diplomatic relations with 38 States out of the 54 Sovereign States found in the African Region and of that, Resident Diplomatic Missions operate in only four (04) African Countries. Therefore, the proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to establish an Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the headquarters of the African Union is situated, with a view to extending trade and economic relations with Ethiopia which has the largest economy in terms of GDP in East Africa and Central Africa and establishing a close relationship with the countries of the African Union, was approved by the Cabinet.