Bangladesh to support Sri Lanka’s agricultural modernization program
COLOMBO – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday (10) assured President Ranil Wickremesinghe of her country’s commitment to support Sri Lanka’s agricultural modernization program.
The Bangladeshi premier gave the assurance when she engaged in a bilateral discussion with the Sri Lankan president in New Delhi on Monday. Both leaders are in India, having attended the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (9).
A statement from the president’s media division (PMD) said Wickremesinghe had affirmed his commitment to dispatch a delegation of Sri Lankan agricultural experts to Bangladesh with the objective of studying Bangladesh’s agricultural modernization program through cooperative methods and gathering valuable insights to enhance Sri Lanka’s own agricultural modernization efforts.
The two leaders had also deliberated on the prospect of signing a free trade agreement between Bangladesh and Sri Lankan with Wickremesinghe highlighting the potential for such an agreement following the conclusion of the India Free Trade Agreement.
Expressing satisfaction with the progress of Sri Lanka’s economy under Wickremesinghe’s leadership, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister had also pledged to direct private investors from Bangladesh towards investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, further fostering economic cooperation between the two countries. Consideration had also been given to the initiation of a passenger ferry service connecting the two countries.
Responding to an invitation by Sheikh Hasina to attend the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangladesh, President Wickremesinghe had said that as the conference is slated to be held during an election period in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Foreign Minister Ali Sabri will represent the country. He had also assured the Bangladeshi premier he would visit the country after the election.
The meeting was attended by Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aruni Wijewardene, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Kshenuka Senaviratne, Private Secretary to the President Sandra Perera, and delegations from both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
-PMD/ENCL
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