The inaugural Sri Lanka-Kyrgyz Republic Foreign Office consultations concluded in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic on Monday (15). Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane and Kyrgyz Republic’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Avazbek Atakhanov co-chaired the consultations.
The consultations are part of Sri Lanka’s initiative to strengthen bilateral ties with the countries of the Central Asia region.
A MoU on Bilateral Cooperation was signed between the two Foreign Ministries. Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations with the Kyrgyz Republic in 1996.
During the official talks, the two sides prioritized expanding economic cooperation, focusing on apparel, gems and jewellery, tea, food and beverages, wellness and ayurvedic products, education services and ICT sectors.
The two sides also discussed the potential for the promotion of tourism to facilitate connectivity and to strengthen people to people linkages.
Cooperation at multilateral and regional fora and developments in the respective regions and current global issues were among the other areas taken up for discussion.
Foreign Secretary Wijewardane also met with the Vice President and members of the Kyrgyz Chambers of Commerce and agreed on an inaugural meeting between the two Chambers to be convened virtually with a view to strengthening trade and investment connections.
