Romania delighted over bilateral trade growth with Sri Lanka, mulls agreement
The Morning: Romanian Ambassador Doamna Steluța Arhire, expressing delight over the fourfold growth of bilateral trade to $ 127 million last year added that her country would sign an agreement with Sri Lanka to avoid double taxation when she called on Prime Minister (PM) Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees recently.
She added that another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in education, culture, sports and media could be signed once the draft is approved by both sides. So that trade process could be smoothened.
PM Gunawardena and the Romanian envoy discussed the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries and the steps to be taken to enter into economic cooperation and investment in new spheres.
The Prime Minister also urged Romania to consider investments and cooperation in education, agriculture, railways, IT, cyber security and tourism sectors.
The Romanian envoy said 40,000 Sri Lankans are employed in Romania and their contribution to the economy is highly appreciated and they also contribute to Sri Lanka with their remittances. The Prime Minister thanked the Government of Romania for providing employment to a large number of Sri Lankans in recent years.
PM Gunawardena said that he is thankful for Romania’s support to Sri Lanka in the past and made a special mention about the Romanian oil supplies when there was a blockade to Sri Lanka due to nationalisation of foreign companies in 1960s and the supply of railway compartments and rails to Sri Lanka.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka is currently on a path to expand its business and trade ties with foreign countries. While the country is already engaged in reviewing the existing trade agreements with other countries in a bid to further strengthen ties, Sri Lanka is looking at entering into several new free trade agreements (FTAs) this year. It is in such a backdrop that Sri Lanka entered into an FTA with Thailand last month. FTAs and preferential trade agreements ( PTAs) with countries like Singapore, China, Bangladesh and Indonesia are currently under negotiations. Given Sri Lanka’s expanding export sector and overall economic activities, more countries like Romania are looking at solidifying their trade with Sri Lanka. With the ties between Sri Lanka and Romania on a growth path, Romanian businesses/investors could explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka. The growing potential in Sri Lanka presents an ideal destination for foreign businesses to set up base to engage with other countries using Sri Lanka’s many trade pacts.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20240308/Z_3 |