UAE's Foreign Trade Minister due here on Nov 23

Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade of United Arab Emirates will be arriving in Colombo on November 23 on a three-day official visit amidst renewed bilateral trade efforts between the two countries, said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen,.

Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen pays a courtesy call on UAE Foreign Trade Minister Lubna Bint Kalid Al Qasimi at Ministry of Foreign Trade in Abu Dhabi.

Minister Bathiudeen announced the visit at his meeting with top officials of the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

Al Qasimi will be leading a trade delegation based on the invitation by Minister Bathiudeen who paid a courtesy call on Al Qasimi at the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Abu Dhabi in May this year.

“In our May 2011 meeting, we agreed that the ‘trading hub’ outlook of both economies could jointly be used to avail global market opportunities”, Minister Bathiudeen said.

Currently, UAE-Sri Lanka's trade turnover stands at US $ 548.4 Mn (2010) of which Sri Lankan's exports to UAE amounted to US $ 246.2 Mn, making UAE one of the key trading partners in the Middle East.

During the May 2011 meet, Minister Bathiudeen told Her Highness Lubna Bint Kalid Al Qasimi of the unrealised future trade potential between the two countries in the background of renewed bilateral trade cooperation efforts.

UAE has become the largest Foreign Direct Investor to Sri Lanka among the Gulf countries. Among the well-known UAE conglomerates operating in Sri Lanka are Etisalat (mobile telecom), Al Ghuraia (real estate and manufacturing), and Al Futaim (automobile retailing), boosting Sri Lanka’s corporate sector outlook significantly.