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| Thursday, 11 December 2003 |
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Lanka-Saudi to ink General Agreement from Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia will sign a General Agreement on economic, trade, investment, scientific, technical, cultural, sports and youth cooperation in Colombo, the Sri Lankan embassy said here on Monday. Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Nizar Obeid Madani will represent the Kingdom at the signing ceremony in Colombo on December 17. Minister Assisting Foreign Affairs, Lal Dharmapriya Gamage will sign the agreement on behalf of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar speaking on the proposed agreement said this is a major development in the Sri Lanka-Saudi relations and will open new areas of cooperation between the two countries. Ansar said his country has signed similar agreements with 20 other countries but this is the first time that Sri Lanka is to ink the first ever general agreement with the Kingdom. He said the two foreign ministries have finalised the draft of the accord which will have mutual benefits. The ambassador also thanked the Saudi ambassador in Colombo, Mohammed Mahmud Al Ali for cooperating to finalise the agreement. Asked about the outcome of signing such an agreement, Ansar said this will pave the way for Sri Lankan investors to come here and Saudi investors to look for opportunities in Sri Lanka since it ensures a written understanding to protect investors interests. The ambassador said there are 1,400 foreign ventures successfully operating in the island. He said these projects include joint ventures and fully owned foreign companies. Ansar said all these ventures enjoy tax holiday, duty free or concessionary duty on imports of needed equipment and machinery to the projects. The envoy said here are 25 foreign venture projects from Middle East countries, operating in Lanka these projects initiated from Saudi partners, include textiles, garments, fruit juice, prawn farms and IT accessories. He said the United Arab Emirates is the largest investor from the Middle East in the island which has 16 projects. Asked about the viable, ventures that could be eyed by Saudi investors, Ansar spoke of projects such as power generation, construction of sea ports, telecommunications, water services, areas in agriculture and food processing and construction of infrastructure facilities such as construction of houses and warehouses in the island. With the restoration of peace in the island, a large number of tourists have begun to come to the island as in the past, Ansar said. Sri Lanka opened its diplomatic mission in the Kingdom in 1983 and this was reciprocated with a Saudi mission in Colombo after 12 years. The bilateral ties between two countries were further stepped up with the exchange of high level visits from both countries. Majlis Al Shoura, Chairman, Dr. Saleh Bin Humeid led a 32 member delegation to Sri Lanka and this was followed by parliamentary delegation headed by Speaker Joseph Michael Perera with senior Cabinet members. Sri Lanka exports goods to the Kingdom is worth about Rs. 2,709 million and imports from Saudi Arabia is to the value of Rs. 3,180 million. |
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