Lankan Embassy in Ankara and Department of Commerce facilitate visit of Hon. Consul of Sri Lanka in Georgia

The Hon. Consul of Sri Lanka in Georgia, Nino Makhviladze visited Sri Lanka from 25 May to 2 June 2023 on an exploratory tour to understand opportunities in Sri Lanka for trade, tourism and investment. 

Her visit was organised by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Ankara, Türkiye which is accredited to Georgia and facilitated by the Department of Commerce. 

She held bilateral discussions with the Tourism and Lands Minister Harin Fernando, Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranathunga, State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasooriya, State Minister of Urban Development and Housing Arundika Fernando and State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage. 

Makhviladze also had discussions with the officials of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce & Food Security, the Urban Development Authority (UDA), the Board of Investment, Port City Commission, Sri Lankan Airlines and the Export Development Board (EDB). Makhviladze visited the Colombo Port City, Barberyn Lighthouse Island in Beruwala and Browns Beach in Negombo and explored a few old colonial buildings in Colombo that is available for investors.  

As InterCo Travel Group’s Chairperson and the Senior Executive in Georgia, Makhviladze discussed different ways of promoting Sri Lanka as a destination for Georgian travellers. She has meticulously prepared a tourism investment initiative aimed at increasing visitors and boosting income for the island. Tourism related investments would focus on investing in old colonial buildings under the UDA, islands available for tourism development projects, and investment opportunities in the Colombo Port City. 

As an initial step a Georgian media team with leading media personnel including bloggers will visit Sri Lanka for FAM tour this month. Furthermore, the Georgian team intends to seek the possibility of starting an airline or charter flight from Tbilisi, Georgia to Colombo, Sri Lanka in future with the objective of facilitating more tourists from Georgia, the Caucasus region and Europe. Makhviladze also discussed with Sri Lanka tourism authorities on arranging a Georgian musical event and a food festival in the country.

She displayed keen interest for sourcing coffee, cocoa, coconut related products, vanilla and sea food from Sri Lanka. At discussions with the Ministry of Trade, Commerce & Food Security and the EDB, the Georgian team agreed to facilitate Sri Lanka to export these products to Georgia and thereby help the country improve food security with quality products from Georgia. They also participated at a zoom meeting organised by the Industrial Development Board on the upcoming “Industry 2023” exhibition to be held in Colombo from 22 to 25 June, 2023 and agreed to arrange a business delegation from Georgia to visit the exhibition.

These initiatives will be further discussed during the upcoming visit of the State Minister of Foreign Affairs to Georgia to attend the political consultation meeting between the two countries.  

This visit of the Hon. Consul of Sri Lanka in Georgia has created a new avenue to promote the country’s trade, tourism and investment opportunities in Georgia and the Caucasus region. The Sri Lankan authorities will work closely with the Lankan Embassy in Ankara to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two nations.