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CCIR: Romania, Sri Lanka need to focus on developing their maritime cooperation
Romania - Sri Lanka maritime trade cooperation is essential, given the geographical position of the two countries, is the opinion voiced by president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) Mihai Daraban at a meeting on Wednesday with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Ali Sabry, on the sidelines of the official visit to Romania by representatives of the Sri Lankan government.
Referring to ways of boosting trade relations with Sri Lanka, the CCIR president emphasized that the geographical position of the two states "essentially shapes" their maritime cooperation.
"Sri Lanka is a maritime trade hub in the South Asian region, with trans-shipping accounting for 75 percent of the activity of the Port of Colombo. At the same time, Romania, through Constanta Port - the only left functional at the Black Sea - is the gateway for goods entering Central and Western Europe. It is worth noting that over 170 Sri Lankan companies are present in our country, and we consider them to be true ambassadors of this state to Romania, which, together with domestic businesses, can bring added value to the economies of the two states," said Daraban.
In his turn, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry stated that due to its access to the Black Sea, but also to the fact that it is a EU member, Romania represents a major interest for the economic development of the South Asian island state.
Today, relations between the EU and Sri Lanka are governed by a comprehensive cooperation agreement on partnership and development, which came into force in April 1995. Thus, the EU became Sri Lanka's second-largest trading partner after China and its second main export destination, absorbing 22.4 percent of Sri Lanka's exports in 2020. At today's meeting with the CCIR management we identified real business development opportunities for Romanian and Sri Lankan entrepreneurs. For us, the connection we established with CCIR - Romania's most important business promotion vector - is essential, said Ali Sabry.