Ambassadors of the European Union yesterday asked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to consider European countries as friends of Sri Lanka.They also assured continuous support to Sri Lanka.

These remarks were made by European Ambassadors when they met President Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Colombo.The Ambassadors pointed out that a clear communication of future plans of rebuilding the country’s economy would make it easier for the international community to assist Sri Lanka.

The President said nearly 90% of the country’s population resided in rural areas, and 75% of those people depended on agriculture. By providing them with the required fertiliser, and fuel, many problems as well as the issues related to the supply of food, could be solved, he added.The President said that steps had been taken to provide uncultivated government lands to those interested in agriculture as a solution to the land issue.President Rajapaksa explained the initiatives launched by the government to provide a lasting solutions to the issues faced by the people.

A number of areas including investment, tourism, and education, too, were discussed at length. EU Ambassador Denis Chaibi, French Ambassador Eric Lavertu, Italian Ambassador Rita Mannella, Norwegian Ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskedal, Dutch Ambassador Tanja Gonggrijp, German Ambassador Holger Lothar Seubert, Romanian Ambassador Victor Chiujdea, and Swiss Ambassador Dominik Furgler, were present, along with Turkish Ambassador Rakibe Demet Sekercioglu, Chief of Staff to the President Anura Dissanayake and Admiral Jayanath Colombage were present at the discussion.