Events

During the meeting the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus drew attention to the good dynamics of the development of Belarusian-Sri Lankan contacts that were prompted by the meeting of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Sri Lanka President Mahinda Percy Rajapaksa in August 2013. The sides discussed existing proposals regarding the organization of visits and pointed out the need to fill their content with the enhancement of the trade and economic dialogue, said the press service.

Vladimir Andreichenko said the Belarusian side was ready to build up the legal base of the bilateral relations and pointed out the need for all the documents signed by Belarus and Sri Lanka to come into force as soon as possible.

On 18 November the Belarus parliament delegation led by Vladimir Andreichenko also met with Sri Lanka Prime Minister Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne. The meeting focused on the expansion of Belarusian-Sri Lankan trade and economic cooperation. The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus remarked that finding new opportunities for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation was one of the purposes of the visit of the Belarus parliament delegation to Sri Lanka. The delegation also included top executives and representatives of prominent Belarusian companies. Vladimir Andreichenko said it was important to step up the volume and diversify the bilateral trade, including via the establishment of joint ventures in Sri Lanka. The implementation of the proposal put forth at the top level to start assembling Belarusian tractors in Sri Lanka was also discussed at the meeting.

Attention was drawn to the export potential of Belarusian agriculture, the agribusiness complex, the scientific and technological sphere, pharmaceutical enterprises. Ways for Belarusian trucks and passenger automobiles to enter the Sri Lankan markets and ways to step up interaction in matters of education were also discussed. Support for efforts exercised by the Belarusian-Sri Lankan commission on trade and economic cooperation to advance the existing initiatives was expressed, said the press service.

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka backed Belarusian economic initiatives. He remarked that he considers Belarus as a platform for entering the European market and the market of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Vladimir Andreichenko also met with member of the parliament of Sri Lanka Roshan Ranasinghe. Belarusian Deputy Industry Minister Gennady Svidersky, Director General of OAO Minsk Tractor Works Fyodor Domotenko, and Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mikhail Myatlikov also took part in the meeting. The sides discussed terms of creating an enterprise to assemble Belarusian tractors in Sri Lanka. The negotiations represented a concrete example of how parliamentarians can contribute to the development of economic ties between countries.