A meeting between Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Swiss Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter centered on progress in the reform and reconciliation process in Sri Lanka and the expansion of bilateral relations between Switzerland and the island nation.

A little over a year after his visit to Sri Lanka, where he held talks with representatives of the Sri Lankan government and of the Tamil community in Colombo and Jaffna, Federal Councillor Burkhalter received the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Thursday (March 03) in Bern for a working visit, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said in a statement.

This is the first visit by a Sri Lankan foreign minister to Switzerland in more than 30 years

One of the main topics of discussion was the progress made in the new government's reform and reconciliation program, which is intended to mitigate the effects of the civil war that ravaged Sri Lanka for almost three decades and to enable a return to stability and offer new prospects for the country.

Mr Burkhalter congratulated Mr Samaraweera on the progress achieved so far and assured him that Switzerland would continue and indeed step up its support for the process.

They also discussed possibilities to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, which are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations this year.

The two sides agreed that in addition to cooperating on peacebuilding and human rights, there is potential for strengthening cooperation between the two countries, particularly, in the areas of economic relations, where the bilateral trade volume in 2015 amounted to approximately US$ 300 million, migration, education and cultural exchanges.

They also agreed that a migration partnership between the two countries ought to be established. Talks to work out the technical details will be held soon. The two ministers also signed a memorandum of understanding in Bern providing for regular political consultations between representatives of the two states.