Message from Consul General of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Karachi

We are celebrating our 65th Independence day today, 4th of February 2013, at a time when Sri Lanka has entered into a new phase of development. Under the dynamic leadership of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, we were able to defeat the prolonged menace of terrorism, which halted the progress of the country for more than two decades.
Today, Sri Lanka is a very stable, peaceful and economically progressing country in this region. The country is now going through a rapid development. It has emerged as a land of new opportunities for trade, investments, services industry including tourism. The Vision of the Government of developing Sri Lanka as a Maritime, Aviation, Commercial, Energy, Knowledge and tourism hub serving as a key link between the East and the West is fast becoming a realty. The country has achieved unparalleled development, in various sectors and as a result we can see renewed interest of the international business community in exploring the abundance of opportunities available in various sectors for investments. Sri Lanka has recorded very high economic growth in last few years. It is also cited as the most promising and attractive tourist destination in the region. Arrival of tourists from various courtiers including Pakistan has shown a steady increase surpassing 1million in 2012 for the first time. It is our thinking that this is the most appropriate and opportune time for the Pakistani business community to look at Sri Lanka more closely and establish relations with prospective partners in trade, investment, tourism and other related activities.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have always maintained very close and cordial relations in diverse fields. We need to build upon this firm foundation focusing areas which need our attention at this moment of time, specially economic, trade, investment, tourism and related areas. The Governments of our two countries have recognised the importance of expanding activities in these areas and taken steps to introduce various measures including implementation of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. While a good progress is seen in our bilateral trade, we are yet to exploit the full potential in trade and commercial activities. The total value of bilateral trade has recorded at around US $430 million in 2012, which is certainly a significant increase compared to previous years. Ever increasing commercial interactions between the two countries reflect the new opportunities available in trade and economic activities. We need look forward and engage ourselves, the government officials and the business community together in expanding bilateral trade and economic activities for the benefit of our two countries.
We are pleased to note the increasing interest of Sri Lankan and Pakistan business community in identifying and exploring opportunities available for them in the two countries, which is certainly a good sign. We need to keep this momentum. The High Commission of Sri Lanka in Islamabad and the Consulate General in Karachi would be very pleased to work together with the Pakistan Business community and well wishers to further expand and promote bilateral relations trade and economic activities.
I take this opportunity to convey our sincere appreciation and thanks to the Government of Pakistan, Business community and the Peoples of Pakistan for their continued support and co-operation extended to us at all times.
On this important National day of Sri Lanka, I wish to convey our warm greetings and best wishes to the Government and the Peoples of Pakistan as well as to the Sri Lankans living in Pakistan.