Pakistan offers to set up sugar mills in Sri Lanka

Saturday, 16 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at President’s House last evening. He was accompanied by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, Minister of State for Information

Technology and Telecommunications Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan, Foreign Secretary Syed Jalil Abbas Jilani and High Commissioner Maj Gen (R) Qasim Qureshi. The Prime Minister congratulated President Rajapaksa on the successful hosting of CHOGM 2013. He appreciated the economic growth achieved by Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war in 2009. The Prime Minister also appreciated the leadership of President Rajapaksa for successfully eliminating terrorism from the country. During the meeting, both leaders agreed to further strengthen economic ties, especially increasing bilateral trade volume from present US$ 460 million to US$ 1 billion in the next few years. They also agreed that bilateral flow of investments could play an important role in boosting economic relations. In response to President Rajapaksa’s offer to invest in the sugar sector, the Prime Minister of Pakistan offered that Pakistan’s Government or the private sector could setup sugar mills in Sri Lanka. This meeting between the two leaders, which is the second one during the last two months, will give significant boost to the already-strong bilateral ties between the two countries.