Lanka,Croatia have many common interests - Senior minister Amunugama

Chaminda Perera

Senior Minister of International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama on Wednesday stressed the need to forge closer ties with Croatia as the two countries are on the path of development after the end of debilitating wars.

He said Sri Lanka has to express its solidarity with Croatia which has just come out of an unfortunate war and achieved peace.

The minister said the volume of tourists visiting Croatia a year is more than four times of its population as it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. He was of the view that Sri Lanka can learn a lot from Croatia in the field of tourism.

"As schoolchildren studying history, we were always talked of Balkans which were really suffering because of the interference by the governments in far off lands. The Balkans had more times of war than times of peace", he said.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the Croatia's National Day at Hotel Taj Samudra on Wednesday, Minister Dr. Amunugama said Croatia is on the verge of joining the European Union and its addition to the EU is welcomed by most Sri Lankans.

He said most Sri Lankans would welcome this move as the two countries have just emerged from protracted wars and have common interests in the area of tourism and the service sector.

"We recall the visit of President Marshal Tito to Sri Lanka to participate in the Non Aligned Summit in Colombo. He came here in a special ship which was anchored just over here", he added.

Sri Lankan Croatian Counsel General in Sri Lanka Thilak De Soysa said the two countries have close and cordial ties and a number of agreements have been signed in the fields of cultural cooperation, counter terrorism.