UAE Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khaled Nasser AlAmeri met Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe in Colombo on Wednesday, with Abu Dhabi Ports Company flagging interest in opportunities at the Port of Colombo and the minister offering investment openings at both Colombo and the Port of Trincomalee.
Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at around USD 1.5 billion. The UAE is Sri Lanka’s seventh-largest export destination and third-largest import partner, Newswire reported. Officials from the Trade Ministry and Department of Commerce also attended.
Discussions covered maritime connectivity, aviation cooperation and the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Sri Lanka and the UAE. The UAE side also expressed interest in expanding cooperation with SriLankan Airlines, particularly in aircraft maintenance and related services.
The pitch lands as the Port of Colombo continues to outperform: April throughput climbed 22 percent year-on-year. Trincomalee remains the active second front for Gulf-state energy and logistics interest, with India and the UAE pushing in parallel on the long-stalled oil-hub concept and the AKD-VP Radhakrishnan oil-pipeline framework.
The aircraft maintenance offer also intersects with the Honeywell APU contract recently signed by SriLankan Airlines and ongoing dnata Dubai handling contracts.
Reported by Newswire (May 13, 7:42 PM).
