President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has met with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York, the President’s Media Division said. Accordingly, the Secretary General had assured the President that the UN will extend its fullest positive cooperation to Sri Lanka. The Secretary-General has stated that Sri Lanka, which has a huge social and economic role to play in the Indian Ocean region, is expected to continue to do so despite the complex situation that has plagued the country for nearly 30 years. The President has stated he was pleased to have the opportunity to confer with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and congratulated him on leading the United Nations through the difficult period faced by the world and on his re-election as Secretary-General. President Rajapaksa also briefed the UN Secretary-General on the challenges faced by a country like Sri Lanka with a small economy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The President spoke at length on the impact of COVID-19 on education and the economy of Sri Lanka and commended the World Health Organization (WHO) for its support in tackling the pandemic. The President also pointed out that over half of the Sri Lankan population has been fully vaccinated and that all arrangements have been made to fully vaccinate all those over the age of 15 before the end of November as per statistics. The Secretary-General commended the progress made by Sri Lanka in vaccination. President Gotabaya is currently in New York to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be commenced on September 21. This will be the President's first address to the United Nations General Assembly.