ST.PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2021) Sri Lanka plans to boost cooperation with Russia in oil and gas, tourism, and investments sectors, State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Sputnik.
"We actually want to bump up our relationships with Russia to a high level than what we have. We have a lot of trade; we have investment opportunities. We have tourism but going forward, we are very keen on our relationships being improved further, and that something that we hope we can put a foundation for. We are looking at oil and gas; we are looking at tourism; we are looking at financing as well as investments," the minister said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Cabraal, who expressed his excitement about the organization of things in Russia, further stressed that the presence of himself and his colleague, the industry minister, at the forum highlights the importance Sri Lanka gives to its relationship with Russia.
"I am a state minister of finance as well as our industry minister, and we are both here. That shows the utmost importance that we give to our relationships with Russia. So we are very excited to learn what is happening here and activities that are taking shape," Cabraal said.
According to the minister, Sri Lanka is considering the best way to learn from Russia how to exploit its minerals and probably establish joint ventures between companies from the two countries.
"We are also looking at minerals and how best we can learn from Russia and may even looking into joint ventures between Russian and Sri Lanka's companies and to provide the space for that and hopefully that can be something that we can really work at," the minister said.
Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Colombo have produced significant social assistance and bilateral trade. Upon request from Sri Lanka, Russia provided humanitarian aid amounting to $24 million in August 2017 following the destruction caused by floods and landslides across the island nation.
In 2019, trade between Russia and Sri Lanka 2019� amounted to $397.33 million.
SPIEF-2021 is taking place from Wednesday through Saturday in person at the Expoforum Exhibition and Convention Center in St. Petersburg. The Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is a media partner of the event.
