The EU is Sri Lanka’s largest export destination and the total trade between the EU and Sri Lanka stood at US $ 4,434 Million in 2010, according to the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, France and Sweden are the main EU member countries investing in Sri Lanka. " These countries have invested in diverse sectors such as apparels, hosiery, knitwear, surf sails, textile, electronic products, light engineering, rubber based products, (e.g. tyres), coir based products, gem and jewellery etc", sources said.
The European Commission has been supporting vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka with humanitarian aid since 1992 and since the end of the conflict in 2009, the Commission provided a series of financing support. In 2010, the delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives announced that the European Commission had adopted the Annual Action Plan (AAP) 2010 for Euro 16 million (Rs 2.4 billion) in grant assistance to Sri Lanka, allocating for livelihoods and community infrastructure support in the Northern and Eastern districts.