TEA EXPORTS TO IRAN WILL CONTINUE - WEERATUNGA

The Sri Lankan government will be seeking out ways of maintaining trade with Iran, without violating economic sanctions, according to Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga.

Weeratunga, who was chief guest at the Annual General Meeting of the Tea Exporters Association, stated that the government places a high priority on both the continued import of Iranian oil into Sri Lanka, as well as the development and sustainability of the tea industry in Sri Lanka.

“The Government today is fully aware of the tea industry’s contribution to the country and during the President’s last visit to Iran, the subject of sanctions was discussed between President Rajapakse and President Ahmadinejad.”

“During the course of the discussions, we found a way as to how this could be smoothly handled. This is not to say we will violate sanctions or break norms and go against the world order. However, as a country need to find ways and means of survival and ensuring that development goes on,” Weeratunga explained.

Iran is a key market for Ceylon Tea as well as a crucial supplier of crude oil to Sri Lanka. The country is almost entirely dependent on Iranian crude oil imports, where the only oil refinery in Sapugaskanda being specifically geared to process high-sulphur Iranian imports.

Following the last round of sanctions by the United States against Iran over allegations of a nuclear weapons programme, countries had been prohibited from dealing with the Iranian Central Bank. However, Sri Lanka has since been provided with an exemption from sanctions, provided that it can reduce its imports from Iran by 15%.