MINSK, 30 March (BelTA) – Sri Lanka’s delegation, led by Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardana, has come to Belarus on a working visit, BelTA has learned.
The Sri Lankan delegation also comprises Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia with concurrent accreditation to Belarus, Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Minsk Dmitry Ruzanov.
Bandula Gunawardana met with the Belarusian deputy industry minister, heads of the country's leading transport companies: MAZ, Amkodor and Belkommunmash. The Sri Lankan delegation got familiar with the production line and held technical and commercial negotiations.
Bandula Gunawardana said during the negotiations that his country decided to abandon the use of diesel engines, adding that such vehicles would no longer be imported into the country. Sri Lanka wants to preserve the nature of the island, so it has decided to actively develop a green economy. In Belarus the minister of transport and highways of Sri Lanka expressed his interest in buying Belarusian electric transport and road machinery.
“Agreements have been reached on cooperation in transport production. There are plans to sign agreements between the relevant departments of the two countries,” Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Minsk Dmitry Ruzanov told BelTA.
The program of the visit will also include negotiations at the National Center for Marketing and Price Study and the Transport and Communications Ministry, the visit of the Sri Lankan delegation to the Belarusian State University of Transport in Gomel, where agreements on cooperation are expected to be signed between the Belarusian and Lankan transport universities.