COLOMBO, March 2020: Contact Sri Lanka, an online portal jointly developed by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Information & Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for the benefit of Overseas Sri Lankans was launched today (26 March 2020) at the Ministry of Foreign Relations. The portal is hosted on the Ministry’s website www.mfa.gov.lk and also can be accessed at www.contactsrilanka.mfa.gov.lk.
The launch of the portal is pursuant to the call made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for coordinated efforts by all government stakeholders to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and to harness digital technology to prompt faster and more efficient service delivery.
All Sri Lankans living abroad are invited to register on the platform’s basic functionalities and benefit from this portal, allowing the Government of Sri Lanka to reach out and provide assistance during emergencies such as the COVID-19 outbreak. This platform will allow the Ministry to access real time data for quick action. The open access platform will also facilitate interaction between overseas Sri Lankans government stakeholders, promoting greater access to the government services through a single centralised point at the Ministry of Foreign Relations. This portal will also connect overseas Sri Lankans with the network of Sri Lanka Missions abroad.
In the long term, the Contact Sri Lanka portal will be expanded and is expected to serve as an official source of information and help overseas Sri Lankans in obtaining a wider range of digital services offered by the government.
A dedicated team of officials have already been assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Relations to respond to queries of overseas Sri Lankans and also to act as an online help desk, during emergencies in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Registration by country will also allow the Ministry to propose concrete policy decisions in critical response situations such as evacuation etc., depending on the number of emergency assistance requests generated.
For ease of reference, the portal also includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which will serve as a guideline for generic queries. This user friendly platform can be easily navigated via the internet, on any browser or interface and can be accessed by all registered users to direct a query or request assistance, even from a mobile phone. The data provided through this portal is protected to ensure the privacy of overseas Sri Lankans and will not be shared without the consent of the users.
The ICTA will be working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Relations in expanding the features of the portal in stages, to create a comprehensive online service platform for overseas Sri Lankans, via Contact Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Foreign Relations is hopeful that this integrated platform will elevate its existing service delivery for overseas Sri Lankans to a higher level, particularly allowing rapid response in times of emergencies.
