The meeting was chaired by Special Representative of the Japanese Government, Yasushi Akashi and assisted by the European Union and the United States. The Government of Sri Lanka was represented by Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris, Hon. Milinda Moragoda and Hon. Rauf Hakim. The meeting was attended by representatives of key bilateral donors and international organisations based in Colombo.

The deliberations commenced with a minute of silence to pay respects to Ms. Anna Lindh, the Swedish Foreign Minister, who died under tragic circumstances.

Mr. Akashi, in his opening address stated that the Follow-up Meeting was based on the provisions of the Tokyo Declaration, which required periodic review of the peace process by the international community, as donor support was closely linked to substantive progress on the peace initiative.

Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris, indicated that the peace process was at the threshold of a new phase of maturity. The initial phase delivered valuable results, in particular the Oslo decision, which invoked the concept of internal self-determination, in the form of a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka, as the preferred option of the parties.

It is expected that the next phase would see the focus change towards legal and constitutional issues, particularly on the establishment of a provisional administration for the North and East, as well as addressing substantive issues to achieving a permanent solution.

He further stated, that it was imperative in the next phase to adopt a dual-track approach, in which both, the political issues as well as, economic issues are discussed at the same pace.

The donors indicated the immediate need for the Government and the LTTE to resume negotiations at the earliest. The donor community was of the view that a temporary mechanism, in which the Government and the LTTE in partnership provide direction on development activity for the North and East was required until the provisional administrative structure was agreed and established.

The donors commended the economic management of the government. It was noted that significant success has been achieved as a result of the prudent policies followed by the government in strengthening the economy.

The meeting concluded with the donor community expressing its resolve to consolidate the peace efforts in Sri Lanka, through the continued support for reconstruction and development activity.