SL eyes Russian help for hydrocarbon exploration and tourism infrastructure rebuilding
„Visiting Russian Foreign Minister calls for more direct B2B contacts „SL says ready to increase bilateral trade to US$ 700mn
Sri Lanka is keen to get Russian support in the areas of hydrocarbon exploration and building tourism infrastructure, but for that to happen, more direct contacts between the business communities of the two countries is paramount, according to the visiting Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Minister Lavrov is on a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka and is the first official visit from Russia following the Presidential elections in November 2019.
Speaking at a joint news briefing held at the Foreign Relations Ministry, the Russian Minister said he invited to send a delegation of businessmen from Sri
Lanka to Russia to create more direct business contacts.
“I invited a delegation to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2020, which takes place in June and to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok,” the minister said.
He said the Inter-governmental Commission will meet in Moscow in the second half of 2020, and experts from the Commission will also discuss this issue in detail. Meanwhile, Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh
Gunawardane said the two countries are keen to expand bilateral economic engagement and increase bilateral trade to meet the target volume of US$ 700 million. “This target was set in 2017 during the visit to Russia by former President Maithripala Sirisena. Our total bilateral trade turnover in 2018 was US$ 388.98 million. Russia is Sri Lanka’s largest export destination and the 24th largest import origin country,” he said.
He also welcomed the increasing number of Russian tourists to Sri Lanka.
“There were 86,549 Russian arrivals in 2019 compared to 64,497 arrivals in 2018. Direct air connectivity facilitated by Aeroflot is significantly generating twoway tourism. We discussed the potential for greater Russian investments in the hospitality sector,” Minister Gunawardane stressed.