While congratulating the newly appointed executive committee for the period 2020-2021, Yuri Borisovich Materiy stated; “Sri Lanka remains one of the key partners for Russia in South Asia. Our ties continue to deepen in many spheres. Further impetus to our relations was given by the positive results of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov to Sri Lanka on the 14th of January, this year. In 2019 the volume of bilateral trade between Russian and Sri Lanka amounted to $400 million, with imports to Russia from Sri Lanka reaching $290 million. According to the Russian Customs statistics for 8 months of this year the trade turnover has increased by 36% reaching $352,8 million.
We consider that the Russian-Sri Lankan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation can be instrumental in the development of our countries’ business ties. After the appointment of the Co-Chairman of the Commission by the Sri Lankan side there will be a good opportunity to hold its next meeting subject to the Covid situation.
We noticed that some Sri Lankan companies are making efforts to increase tourists’ flow from Russia since it will help to revive tourism sector in your country. We believe that once the Covid-19 situation normalizes, the arrivals of tourists from Russia increased significantly. Let me stress that the private sector in both our countries, including the members of this Council, remains the real driving force of our bilateral economic ties. The Russian Embassy is fully committed to fostering this cooperation and is always ready to assist in the establishment of business contacts. But I encourage you to take the initiative in your hands.
