The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Benedetto Della Vedova, will be visiting Sri Lanka from today to 19 May. His agenda includes meetings with representatives of the Government and members of Parliament in Colombo, including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of International Trade, Malick Samarawickrama, the Minister of Energy, Ranjjith Siyambalapitiya, the Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, S.B. Dissanayake and the Minister for Special Assignments, Sarath Amunugama.
The talks will focus on reviving both political and economic relations between the two Countries, in the light of the result of last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections and of ongoing reforms and within the framework of the resumed dialogue between Sri Lanka and the European Union and of the improved relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council. On the agenda is also a meeting with the MPs who are members of the Sri Lanka Italy Friendship Society.
Undersecretary Della Vedova will head a delegation of companies operating in the field of renewable energy sources interested in implementing energy production projects based on renewable energy sources in the field of urban mobility. He also plans to visit the production plant of Calzedonia, one of the Country’s major foreign investors. Mr Della Vedova said: “The Country’s institutional developments offer an excellent opportunity to significantly relaunch our relations with Sri Lanka, including trade and commercial relations. Sri Lanka’s annual per capita income is around 10,000 dollars, considerably higher than in the Indian sub-continent. This year’s growth rate is of 5.7%, therefore presenting relevant business opportunities. With this visit we aim to boost trade, which now amounts to roughly 550 million euros, and to supply Italian-made technologies to increase zero-emission energy production in Sri Lanka in compliance with the objectives of the COP21 convention”.
