President Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to embark on an official visit to Uganda to participate in the 19th Head of State Summit of the Non-Aligned Nations (NAM) and the 3rd South Summit of the Group of 77 & China. The visit, scheduled from tomorrow (19) to Monday (22) comes at the invitation of Yoweri Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda.
The 19th NAM Summit will be held in Kampala, Uganda, under the theme “Expanding Cooperation for Shared Global Prosperity.” Following this, the 3rd G77 and China Southern Summit will take place from Sunday (21) to Monday (22) with the theme “Leave no one behind.”
During his visit, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to address both summits, engage in talks with leaders and representatives from the Global South countries in the African region, and discuss various areas of cooperation.
The Non-Aligned Organization, with 120 member countries, is based on the Bandung Principles and aims to address the needs of developing countries. Sri Lanka, a founding member, held the presidency from 1976 to 1979 and hosted the 5th Conference of Heads of Government of the Non-Aligned Nations in 1976.
The G77 and China Summit, comprising 134 member countries, focuses on enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, sustainable development, climate change, poverty alleviation, and the digital economy.
President Wickremesinghe will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabri, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aruni Wijewardena, and Senior Adviser to the President on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardena.