Iran underlines private sector willingness to make investment in Sri Lanka

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iranian firms and companies are ready to widen presence in Sri Lankan market and invest in its technical and engineering sectors.

"The Iranian private companies are interested in boosting their trade exchanges with Sri Lanka as well as making investment in that country's technical and engineering sectors," Zarif said in a meeting with Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in Tehran on Saturday.

He also stressed the necessity for the promotion of ties between the two countries in the political, parliamentary and economic fields.

Jayasuriya, for his part, emphasized Sri Lanka's enthusiasm for the expansion of relations with Iran in all arenas, and said, "Removal of the sanctions against Tehran has paved the ground for the further development of ties."

Earlier today, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and his Sri Lankan counterpart in a meeting in Tehran called for the removal of banking barriers impeding trade exchanges between the two countries.

"There is a need for finding a solution to the banking issues," Larijani said during the meeting in the Iranian capital.

The Iranian parliament speaker called on the country's contractors to use the existing opportunities which have emerged in the field of technical and engineering services.

"The Iranian businessmen should spare no efforts to make of the opportunities created for imports and exports between Iran and Sri Lanka," Larijani added.

EA