Bahrain Prime Minister arrives in Sri Lanka

28th July 2009, Asiantribune.com

On the invitation of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain will be on an official visit to Sri Lanka from 28-30 July 2009.The visiting Prime Minister of Bahrain will hold bilateral talks with Sri Lanka President. The talks expected to cover a wide range of issues including expanding the economic cooperation between the two countries.

This is the first high level visit to Sri Lanka from Bahrain after a lapse of 33 years. The late Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Amir of Kingdom of Bahrain, visited Sri Lanka for the Non Aligned Summit Conference in 1976.The Bahrain –Sri Lanka diplomatic relations, formalized in 1992, continued to expand into practical cooperation on labour matters as well as on matters of mutual interest in regional and international forums. It is expected that the high level visit will further enrich and expand Sri Lanka’s friendly relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Bahrain is one of the fastest growing economies in the Middle East with a high per capita income. In the recent past, many countries have shown interest in strengthening economic relations with Bahrain. Following the restoration of peace in the North and East of Sri Lanka with the end of terrorism, Sri Lanka is seeking assistance from friendly countries for the reconstruction of North and the other less-developed areas. The Government of Sri Lanka hopes that such assistance will help boost the country’s economy and national development.

According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, “Sri Lanka’s main focus during the visit will be to attract Bahrain – based companies to invest in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. There are a number of investment opportunities which have opened up in Sri Lanka in recent times.

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