KUWAIT, 23 May 2007 — Kuwait and Sri Lanka yesterday signed two agreements on cultural and technical cooperation and exchange of sentenced prisoners between the two countries. Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse oversaw the signing ceremony held at the Bayan Palace.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama who signed the agreements on behalf of his government said: “The agreement on cultural cooperation will explore new areas in the field of education, media and sports.” He added that his government plans to allow Kuwaiti students to study in medical colleges in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan students to read Arabic in some of the universities and colleges here.
“We have around 120,000 Sri Lankans in Kuwait and the two countries have agreed to send sentenced prisoners, if any, back home to serve the sentence in their respective home countries.”
Making his keynote speech at the businessmen’s forum yesterday, Rajapakse told investors that his country offers attractive opportunities that would yield rich dividends for their capital in the island’s projects. “Please come to see the investment opportunities available for foreign investors. You will be amazed by them,” he said, adding that investment opportunities are available in the fields of agriculture, tourism, power, information and communication technology. Thanking the Kuwait government for readily coming forward to help in times of natural disasters such as the tsunami, he said this support symbolizes the true friendship between the two countries.
Rajapakse said the Kuwaiti emir has agreed to look into the possibility of partly funding the construction of a second international airport at Weeravil, 300 km from the capital. G.L. Peiris, minister of exports said Kuwaiti investors would be very much at home since the country has Islamic banking facilities and an Islamic environment where a good number of mosques and Muslims are found in major cities of the island.
“Under a Free Trade Agreement signed with India and Pakistan, goods manufactured in Sri Lanka could find easy access to the sub-continent,” he said, pointing out that more than 4,000 items currently exported to these countries are off duty. Saying that the country enjoys a literacy rate of 98 percent due to the free education system, Peiris said it enables local workers to be more productiv.
Peiris said investors who enter into agreements with the Board of Investments (BOI), would enjoy benefits such as tax holidays, preferential tax rates and exemptions from custom duties. “These incentives are guaranteed under the constitution of Sri Lanka and cannot be changed.”
Minister of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fowzie said that his Kuwaiti counterpart has agreed to send a delegation to the island to explore new areas of cooperation between the two countries in oil exploration and enhancement of the oil refinery located at Sapugaskande, 20 km away from the Sri Lankan capital.
“This is a major breakthrough in our bilateral relations and we hope that the two countries would benefit from the new projects.”
Rajapaksa left for Colombo yesterday from the Kuwait International Airport where he was seen off by the emir of Kuwait, Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and other senior ministers.
