(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Ambassador of the European Union to Sri Lanka Denis Chaibi, along with ambassadors from France, Italy, Romania and Germany, met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees this morning.
The Prime Minister spoke about the long-standing relationship with the EU, which have continued under the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. He also expressed appreciation for restoring the GSP+ facility in 2017 and for lifting the ban on Sri Lanka’s fish exports to the EU in 2016.
“These were important steps since the EU is Sri Lanka’s number one trading partner in overall trade,” Prime Minister Rajapaksa said.
All the ambassadors congratulated the current government on the election victory while Chaibi noted the successful cooperation between the Elections Commission and the EU Election Observer Mission during the recently-concluded presidential election. He expressed interest in having the observers in Sri Lanka during a future parliamentary election as well to which Prime Minister Rajapaksa agreed and added that it would be good for transparency.
The EU ambassador further discussed two other key areas of cooperation: Development assistance in the agricultural sector and the conducting of an investor dialogue.
All the ambassadors discussed the status of development projects and investments their respective countries have with Sri Lanka, and all expressed interest in promoting new investments and tourism.
Other ambassadors present included the following:
Eric Lavertu, Ambassador of France
Ms. Rita Giuliana Mannella, Ambassador of Italy
Victor Chiujdea, Ambassador of Romania
Hermann-Josef Conrads, First Secretary, Embassy of Germany
