SRI LANKA, INDIA - Officials of The Asia Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, and of APL, the global container carrier, during a recent visit to the Reference Library at Eastern University in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, distributed a shipment of books to the students.

Covering a wide range of academic subjects, the books were donated by The Asia Foundation under its "Books for Asia" program, and were carried from the United States to Sri Lanka by APL.

"We are delighted during this holiday season to deliver new books to students who are working so hard to educate themselves, despite many years of social and economic disruption in their country," said The Asia Foundation's Mr. Nallathamby and APL's Mr. Gunaratne. In addition to Eastern University, books were distributed at St. Vincent Girls' High School in Batticaloa.

The current delivery is one of several container-loads of books APL is carrying to Sri Lanka for The Asia Foundation through 2003. The Asia Foundation's Books for Asia program has distributed nearly 40 million books and other educational materials to more than 50,000 institutions in more than 40 countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

About The Asia Foundation
The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, and open Asia-Pacific region. The Foundation supports programs in Asia that help improve governance and law, economic reform and development, women's participation, and international relations. Drawing on nearly 50 years of experience in Asia, the Foundation collaborates with private and public partners to support leadership and institutional development, exchanges, and policy research.

With a network of 17 offices throughout Asia, an office in Washington, D.C., and its headquarters in San Francisco, the Foundation addresses these issues on both a country and regional level. In 2002, the Foundation has provided grants, educational materials, and other resources of more than $50 million to 21 countries in Asia. The Foundation's Books for Asia program distributed more than 750,000 books to over 4,000 schools and educational institutions in the current year.

For more information, visit The Asia Foundation's website at http://www.asiafoundation.org

ABOUT APL: APL (http://www.apl.com) provides customers around the world with container transportation services through a network combining high-quality intermodal operations with state-of-the-art information technology. Its sister company, APL Logistics, provides intercontinental, end-to-end supply-chain management services. Both are units of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global logistics and transportation company engaged in shipping and related businesses.

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