Russia eager for fishing related trade projects

The Russian Embassy believes that there are good prospects of mutual cooperation in the fishing industry. Delivering the key note speech, Evgeny Sergienko, Counsellor of Russian Federation in Sri Lanka who was the chief guest at the Annual General meeting of the Sri Lanka Russia Business Council in Colombo said a draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of fisheries is at the final stage.

The council felicitated the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka - Russia Friendship Society and Advisor to the President Dr. Saman Weerasinghe who has been awarded the Order of Honour of the Russian Federation by the President and the Government of Russia for his contribution to fostering closer economic, political and cultural ties between Sri Lanka and Russia. Here SLRBC officials after presenting a memento to Dr. Saman Weerasinghe.

He said the new draft Intergovernmental Agreement on the establishment of an intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation is to be oriented to strengthen the legal framework for trade and promote traditional nomenclature of Russian high-tech equipment and Sri Lankan agricultural products.”

“There was a good opportunity to gain a foothold for the Russian business through taking part in joint projects with investment company “Sri Lanka Gateway Industries”, which is ready to engage with the relevant Russian companies in the area of the deepwater port of Trincomalee in the east of the island.”

“In this regard, with the support of the council, the Embassy initiative has been realized and the representative of the Interregional Association “Siberian Agreement” Sergey Lebeshev visited Colombo.

After years of armed conflict, one of the main tasks of the Sri Lankan government is to improve the affected areas in the country through housing construction.

In this regard, the Embassy arranged the visit of the Russian company “Association of Builders of Russia”, which is set to start large-scale construction of residential and social facilities.”

Hiran Karunaratne, Director, Regency Teas (Pvt) Ltd. was reelected as the President of the Council said, “With development opportunities opening up in Sri Lanka there is substantial interest of Russian industrialists and investors in the potential the country offers.

A number of visits and meetings have been facilitated by the Council in recent months concerning opportunities in the spheres of industrial parks, nano-technology, pharmaceutical industry, power generation, prefabricated construction units and hotels. The council will continue to contribute to strengthening economic ties between Sri Lanka and Russia.”

(SS)