The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, I answer as follows.

¶ 02 (a) (i) Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe undertook 23 official foreign visits: 4 in 2022, 14 in 2023, and 5 in 2024.

¶ 03 Accordingly, the details are as follows.

¶ 04 2022 – 4 official visits: - United Kingdom – Participation at the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. - Japan – Participation at the State Funeral of the former Prime Minister of Japan. - Philippines/Manila – Participation at the ADB 55th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors. - Egypt/Sharm El-Sheikh – Participation at COP27 UNFCCC World Leaders Summit.

¶ 05 2023 – 14 official visits: - United Kingdom/London – Participation at the Coronation of King Charles III. - Singapore – Purpose of visit not clearly specified. - Japan – Participation at the Nikkei Future of Asia Conference. - United Kingdom/London – Participation at the 2023 IDU Party Conference. - France – Participation at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact (2023). - India – First bilateral visit after assuming the Presidency. - Cuba/Havana – Participation at the “Current Development Challenges” G77 and China Leaders’ Summit. - New York – Participation at the 78th UN General Assembly High-Level Session. - United Kingdom – On 22.09.2023, appears to have participated at a Convocation at the University of Wolverhampton with Mrs. Maithree Wickremesinghe. - Germany/Berlin – Participation at the Berlin Global Forum.

¶ 06 2023 continued: - Dubai/United Arab Emirates – Participation at the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. - Maldives – Participation at the inauguration ceremony of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. - Dubai/UAE – Participation at UNFCCC COP28.

¶ 07 2024 – 5 official visits: - Switzerland – Participation at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting on invitation of the Chair. - Uganda – Participation at the 19th Non-Aligned Movement Summit of Heads of State/Government. - Australia – Participation at the Indian Ocean Conference. - Indonesia – Participation at the High-Level Meeting of the 10th World Water Forum. - India – Participation at the Indian Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony.

¶ 08 The number of persons (other than the President) who participated at Government expense: - 2022: 63 persons for 4 visits - 2023: 252 persons for 14 visits - 2024: 111 persons for 5 visits

¶ 09 The country visited, objectives, benefits to Sri Lanka, and purposes for each additional participant are detailed in Annex 01.

¶ 10 The total expenditure for official visits by the Former President and by his nominees is reported as Rs. 1,027,168,778.75. Details are in Annexes 01, 02 and 03 tabled.

¶ 11 (Non-applicable.)