Transport, Highways and Urban Development Minister Bimal Rathnayake represented Sri Lanka at the XVII International Economic Forum in Kazan, Russia, the Ministry confirmed on Monday. The session he attended was held under the theme “The Role of International Routes in Developing Foreign Trade.”
The Ministry said the forum highlighted the importance of international transport connectivity for trade, shipping and regional economic stability. Addressing the gathering, Rathnayake said the expansion of global trade routes creates greater opportunities for developing nations to integrate into international markets and strengthen their economies.
The Kazan forum is one of the principal economic-cooperation events on the Eurasian calendar, drawing transport, infrastructure and trade ministers from across CIS and partner countries. Sri Lanka’s appearance there is the third high-level Russia-facing engagement in two months: Rathnayake also attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum’s transport ministers’ session in April, and a follow-up trilateral with Belarusian and Kazakh counterparts on the same trip.
The visit lands during a broader push on Russia-Belarus-Central Asia engagement that has included Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s Minsk programme and a separate set of Belarus health, trade and air-services agreements. The Transport Ministry has yet to disclose specific bilateral outcomes from the Kazan session — connectivity rhetoric at Russian Federation economic forums has historically translated into commitments only via follow-on bilateral MoUs or working-group decisions.
No accompanying SLR ministers or business delegation members were named in the Ministry’s statement. The full programme runs over the multi-day forum window in Tatarstan’s capital.
Source: Newswire.
