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                         THE WHITE HOUSE
                   OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 202-456-7035 MONDAY, October 18, 1993

            STATEMENT ON THE VICE PRESIDENT'S MEETING
               WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF SRI LANKA

The Vice President met today with The Honorable Ramil Wickremashighe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, who is in Washington on a private working visit. The Vice President welcomed the opportunity for such a meeting early in the Administration, and urged the Prime Minister to continue Sri Lanka's recent efforts to promote greater respect for human rights. The Vice President applauded Sri Lanka's progress toward economic reform and sought out the Prime Minister's views on what could be done to advance the prospects for peaceful settlement of the civil war.

The Vice President and the Prime Minister also signed an agreement to bring Sri Lanka into the Internet community. The Internet is an international computer network connecting users in more than 100 different countries. For scientists, engineers, and teachers around the world it has become an essential tool for research and education. Particularly for people in the developing world, it provides an inexpensive means of communications that allows them to keep abreast of the latest developments in their fields and to access thousands of databases of information around the world.

"By connecting universities, schools, and laboratories in Sri Lanka to the Internet, the U.S. hopes to foster cooperation between the people of our country and the people of Sri Lanka in all fields of science, technology, and the environment," Vice President Gore said. "This effort represents a relatively small investment that will pay huge profits in the future, in terms of research and better communications between our two countries."

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