Iran exports $520m technical services to Sri Lanka - Mehdi

Iran carried out $520 million of technical and engineering services in Sri Lanka, the Iranian Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said on Monday. During his meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Ghazanfari declared Tehran’s readiness to boost economic cooperation with Colombo, IRNA News Agency reported.

During the meeting the two sides discussed construction of a new oil refinery in Sri Lanka by Iranian experts, exporting Iranian LNG to Colombo, and boosting tourism.

For his part Gamini Lakshman Peiris thanked Iranian experts for carrying out projects in Sri Lanka and called for expansion of economic ties between Tehran and Colombo.

The 9th Joint Economy and Trade Cooperation Committee meeting between Iran and Sri Lanka, was held on 13-15 September.

In the meeting the two countries commerce ministers signed six MOUs and cooperation agreements in the fields of customs, sisterhood between Shahid Rajaei and Colombo ports and acceptance of each other’s maritime certificates.

Also in this meeting agreements were made between the two countries in the fields of science, culture, art and standardization.

An increase in trade, holding international exhibitions, enhancing maritime relations and implementing engineering and technical projects were among other agendas during the meeting.

In April 2008, Iran began work in several infrastructure development projects in Sri Lanka, all part of a $1.5 billion loan to the South Asian island. These projects included doubling the oil refinery capacity of Sri Lanka’s Sapugaskanda refinery as well as building a 100-megawatt hydropower project and irrigation plan in Uma Oya. In June 2009, the country signed a $106 million agreement with an Iranian firm to provide electricity to roughly 1,000 villages in Sri Lanka