Russia asks for Sri Lanka’s support in winning the bid for Expo 2020

The Russian Federation has asked Sri Lanka to support its bid for hosting the Expo 2020 which will be decided at a vote this year by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) in Paris.

During a recent meeting with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, Visiting Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independence States-Russia, Konstantin Kosachev has emphasized that the vote of Sri Lanka is very important to them as Russia expects to win the bid to host the Expo.

Five countries have lodged bids for the Expo 2020. Russia, along with Thailand, Turkey, Brazil and UAE is competing for the votes of162 countries.

Kosachev has remarked that the exhibition will be immensely beneficial for Sri Lanka as Russia expects to bring around 20 million people for this exhibition from other countries.

Russia is bidding to host the exhibition in Yekaterinburg which links Asian and European countries and it would help Sri Lanka to meet its goal of attracting 2.5 million tourists, the Russian official has told the Prime Minister.

The Head of the Federal Agency has promised to arrange a special program in this regard on behalf of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan PM recalling Russia’s assistance financially and institutionally to uplift the economic and political stability in the country, has assured the visiting official of Sri Lanka’s support.