Iran, Sri Lanka Vow to Boost Trade Ties

Iranian and Sri Lankan officials on Monday agreed to boost export of agricultural products from Iran’s Southern Hormozgan province, AVA Diplomatic reports.The agreement was reached in a meeting between Deputy Hormozgan Governor General Latif Sadeqi and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Feisal Razin in the Southern city of Bandar Abbas on Monday.

“Hormozgan has excess production of onion, pepper, tomato and aborigine which can be exported to Sri Lanka,” Sadeqi said.

The Sri Lankan ambassador, for his part, pointed to the current Iran-Sri Lanka relations, and said, “I believe that we can expand the two countries’ trade ties very soon and Hormozgan can be a successful start (point) for such relations.”

He said the culture and climate of Hormozgan and Sri Lanka are very close to each other “and this can serve as an appropriate venue for the expansion of ties by the two sides’ traders and businessmen”.

Earlier this year, former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi underlined that Iran and Sri Lanka enjoy abundant potentials and capacities for developing their all-out relations.

Speaking in a meeting with Sri Lankan ambassador to Tehran in February, Salehi described the relations between Tehran and Colombo as “very good”.

He voiced Iran’s readiness to boost ties with the South Asian nation, and stated, “The two countries enjoy high capacities in trade, economy, health and culture and we are prepared to expand bilateral ties in all fields.”

Iran and Sri Lanka have had official diplomatic relations since 1961.