The Fifth Small Business Forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, which will be held in Ufa, Russia today and tomorrow will provide a good opportunity for the Sri Lankan partners to establish business links in Russia as well as other member-states of the SCO and BRICS, Yuri Borisovich Materiy, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Sri Lanka told the Sri Lanka – Russia Business Council AGM 2019 recently.
The global tea promotion campaign organized by the Sri Lanka was due to start in Russia yesterday. “Russia, which continues to be the largest buyer of Ceylon Tea, is looking forward to increase the volume and diversity of Sri Lankan exports to Russia,” he said. Sri Lanka - Russia Business Council (SLRBC) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held its 16th Annual General Meeting recently at the Russian Cultural Center. The Council has been proactive in promoting trade and economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and Russia since 2001.
The Ambassador added that Russia looks at Sri Lanka as one of its key partners in South Asia.
“As of 2018, Russian export to Sri Lanka had increased by 24 per cent in comparison with 2017 and bilateral trade reached 400 million US dollars,” Ambassador Materiy said. Speaking about tourism, he added that in 2018 more than 64,000 Russian tourists visited the Island.
“As far as the warning to Russian tourists not to visit Sri Lanka due to the terrorist attack on April 21, I want to inform you that the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a new Press-release on August 26 stating only that after lifting the emergency the tourists while visiting Sri Lanka shall be vigilant and cautious. Thus no restrictions are imposed,” he said.
President of SLRBC, Priyantha Hapuarachchi in his speech covered the objectives of the business council, a review of the activities undertaken during the course of the year and further discussed trade statistics.
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