The implementation of the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) is led by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment and Sports and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign employment supported by other sectoral ministries. This policy, which was approved by the Cabinet in 2009, is currently being updated. The updating of the Policy was motivated by the need to better recognise the contributions made by migrant workers, particularly the role of remittances and the skills and knowledge acquired by migrants. The updated Policy seeks to both empower and protect migrant workers by formally recognising their contributions to the national economy.

The final inter-ministerial workshop in the process of updating the NLMP took place on 18th July 2019 at the Movenpick Hotel with the inter- ministerial consultation workshop on the National Action Plan (NAP). The updating of the NLMP is led by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment and supported by technical advise by the ILO. 57 participants representing several government agencies including relevant ministries, state banks, government departments and law enforcement authorities met to discuss the NAP of the update Policy, particular with regard to the four core policy areas of; Labour migration governance to promote decent and productive employment; Securing rights and protection of migrants and ensuring wellbeing of migrant families, Promoting employment opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled migrant workers; and Enhancing the benefits of the migration national development nexus. Participants split into four working groups corresponding to the four policy areas and discussed the Draft NAP at length. Within the groups they agreed on; verification means, time frames, performance indicators and assigning of institutional responsibilities for the respective core areas. The group work was then presented at a plenary and workshop participants further deliberated on the NAP.

The workshop was the last of almost two years of extensive consultations with government agencies, civil society, think tanks and other stakeholders and was important for obtaining ownership and implementation of both the NAP and the Policy by respective government sectoral agencies .