Embassy in Russia and Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Samara Region hold online meeting

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia this week held an online meeting with the Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Samara Region to discuss prospects of cooperation between Sri Lanka and the region, particularly in areas such as trade, tourism, and investments.

The Russian side was represented by Valery Fomichev, President of the Chamber, Alexey Popov, Director of the Chamber’s Department of External Affairs, and Nikolay Kazakov, Expert of the Department. From the Embassy’s side, Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia, Mohamed Anas, Deputy Chief of Mission/Head of Chancery, Chathurika Perera, Second Secretary (Commercial), as well as Olesya Romanova, Personal Assistant to the Ambassador, Maria Selikhova, Assistant to the Commercial Section of the Embassy, and Anastasia Kovalenko, Assistant to the Tea Promotion Unit, took part in the meeting. 

In his remarks, Prof. M.D. Lamawansa gave a brief description of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka-Russia bilateral relations and noted the importance of enhancement of cooperation between Sri Lanka and Samara Region. In turn, Valery Fomichev underscored the interest of the Chamber to implement joint initiatives in other spheres beyond well-established ones and assured the Embassy of the support of the Chamber in facilitating establishment of partnership between Sri Lankan and local regional enterprises on the B2B level in relevant sectors. 

The presentation, delivered by Nikolay Kazakov, highlighted the activities and opportunities of the CCI of Samara Region, whereas Chathurika Perera informed the Russian counterpart in her presentation of the sectors targeted for cooperation with the region. 

Two sides agreed to invite Sri Lankan enterprises to participate in online and offline events organised by the CCI of Samara Region and work towards the increase in total Sri Lanka-Russia trade turnover and tourist outflows from Samara Region to Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the Embassy and the CCI expressed mutual interest in signing an agreement of cooperation, once the particular areas of collaboration and a relevant action plan are identified. Before concluding the meeting, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry extended an invitation to Prof. M.D. Lamawansa to undertake a personal visit to Samara region.