Prime Minister urges France to invest in new areas such as fisheries, IT and renewable energy

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said French investors should enter into new areas of investment such as fisheries, agriculture, information technology, renewable energy, electronics and tourism.

This was stated when the outgoing French Ambassador Eric Lavertu paid a farewell call on him at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo on Tuesday (27).

Ambassador Lavertu said Sri Lanka has vast potential in information technology, tourism and agriculture and France will undertake more projects once the global economic situation get over the current difficult phase. He said that fisheries development has the potential of bringing-in a foreign exchange income as there is a demand for fish products in Europe and other markets.

The Ambassador thanked the Prime Minister for assisting the Alliance Francaise institute to return to its former location and increase programme.

Prime Minister Gunawardena praised the French language programmes undertaken by Alliance Francaise outside Colombo to facilitate the students in those areas to study the language.

He thanked the Ambassador for his untiring efforts to promote ties and cooperation between Sri Lanka and France during his tour of duty and the Ambassador assured the Prime Minister that bilateral relations between the two nations would continue with his successor.

They also discussed other areas for collaboration, including climate change, trade and commerce and joint project involvement based on the European Development Fund.