President Rajapaksa Meets with the Palestinian Business Community

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on a two-day visit to Palestine, met with members of the Palestinian business community Tuesday afternoon.

The Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah, who hosted a lunch in honor of the President immediately, afterwards, spoke about the potential for Sri Lanka and Palestine to further strengthen economic relations.

Hoping that President Rajapaksa’s visit will prompt for more cooperation, Dr. Hamdallah said he hopes the visit “can activate commercial relations.”

A recent study found Sri Lanka to be the second most rapidly growing economy in Asia. And since the end of the war in 2009, Sri Lanka has seen growth in a number of sectors. The Palestinian business community was invited to visit Sri Lanka and explore the potential opportunities of investment for themselves, including the service and IT industries.

The Coordinating Secretary of the Palestinian Private Sector Establishments Mr. Mohamad Masooji, said that he hopes meetings such as the one today with President Rajapaksa will help Sri Lanka and Palestine move towards establishing a joint business council.

Yesterday (Jan. 06), President Rajapaksa opened a vocational training center, funded by the Government of Sri Lanka, which will help build expertise among the Palestinian working population in areas in which Sri Lanka has expertise.

Others present included Palestine’s Minister of National Economy Mr. Jawad Naji, Palestinian Ambassador in Sri Lanka Dr. Anwar Al-Agha and leading members of the Palestinian business community.

(Courtesy: President Media)