Foreign Minister engages in bilateral talks with Romania to enhance relations

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry concluded an official visit to Romania from 15 to 18 July 2024 at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Luminiţa Odobescu. 

The two Foreign Ministers had bilateral talks and the discussions marked a significant milestone in the longstanding relations between the two countries with a view to further enhancing the partnership, and also in the context of Romania as an EU member state.

Minister Sabry outlined Sri Lanka’s recent developments including in the economic stabilisation process with a focus on growth, and the progress made under the ongoing reconciliation endeavours. Foreign Minister Odobesco spoke of the development drive taking place in Romania and the potential for mutually reinforcing engagement with third countries. 

Both parties identified areas for bilateral cooperation in ports, shipping and logistics sector, cyber security, education, ICT, technical assistance for strengthening anti-corruption initiatives, capacity building in disaster risk reduction and civil protection with a special focus on streamlining and regulating foreign employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in Romania. In this respect, avenues for establishing a G2G mechanism for sending semi-skilled and skilled employees to Romania were also discussed. 

In the global context, both sides exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of concern including climate change, energy security, reforms to the international financial architecture etc. 

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Romania Madurika Joseph Weninger, Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Shobini Gunasekera, and other officials from the Ministry and the Embassy were associated with the Minister at the official meetings.