The MoWS delegation Visited China in March
From March 11th to 17th, Mr. A.C.M. Nafeel, Additional Sectary to the Ministry of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development (MoWS), led the first delegation from Sri Lanka to visit the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) since the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Dr. S.K. Weragoda, the executive director (cover-up) of the China-Sri Lanka Joint Research and Demonstration Center for Water Technology (JRDC), and 2 members from JRDC participated in the delegation. Prof. S.H.P. Parakrama Karunaratne from the University of Peradeniya (UoP), who was working in CAS as a PIFI scholar, joined the delegation during the period.
The delegation attended the Workshop on JRDC Development Strategy, which was held on the 13th of March at the Research Center of Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), CAS. Prof. Yuansong Wei and Dr. Weragoda respectively reported the progress of the JRDC-based collaborative work implemented on each side. Mr. Nafeel and Prof. Min Yang pointed out in their conclusion that JRDC should serve the national needs of Sri Lanka in ensuring drinking water safety, and CAS and UoP should work together to tackle the challenges in water supply using JRDC as the platform.
The delegation also visited the Sri Lankan Embassy in China, the Bureau of International Cooperation (BIC), CAS and the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIRI), the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO), and Jingrun Environmental Protection Co. Ltd. This visit marked the beginning of a series of exchanges between Sri Lanka and China for the fruitful cooperation on water and environment in this year. There will be more delegates from both sides to visit each other to further promote cooperation based on JRDC.
