COLOMBO: As the island nation looks to draw in more foreign investment, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration announced Thursday that the two countries had inked an agreement to deepen economic ties during his maiden trip to the Middle East. After speaking at the main session of the 2025 international Government Summit in Dubai and meeting with other international leaders, including UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Dissanayake, who was appointed the nation’s top leader in September, arrived back in Colombo on Thursday.
After China and India, the UAE tour was his third foreign presidential visit. According to a statement from the president’s media office, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates came to an agreement in Dubai on the mutual promotion and protection of investments. “By guaranteeing investor rights protection, encouraging economic cooperation, and establishing comprehensive investment protection mechanisms, dispute resolution frameworks, and policy structures, this agreement aims to facilitate and strengthen foreign investments between the two countries,” the statement read.
Mohamed Bin Hadi Al-Hussaini, the UAE’s Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Vijitha Herath, the foreign minister of Sri Lanka, signed the agreement. It should “help to strengthen international economic partnerships and create opportunities for exploring new investment prospects in Sri Lanka,” according to expectations. The 22 million-person island nation is still having difficulty recovering from the austerity measures imposed as part of a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the 2022 economic crisis, which was the worst since it gained independence in 1948.
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