Ambassador M.Rizvi Hassen met the Governor of Nevsehir region, Mr. Ilhami Aktas on 13th March 2020 at his office in Nevsehir. During the meeting with the Governor the Ambassador requested the Governorship of Nevshir to seek the possibility of connecting Sri Lanka’s two UNESCO heritage sites namely Sigiriya & Dambulla located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka with the Turkey’s one of the main UNESCO heritage site, “Cappadocia” which comes under the Governorship of Nevsehir. The main objective of intertwining the UNESCO world’s heritage sites in the two countries is to promote the cultural ties and increase people to people contact between two countries. During the discussion Ambassador extended an invitation for the Governor to visit Sri Lanka.

The Ambassador also met the Chairman of Nevsehir Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mr Arif Parmaksız and the members of the executive committee of the Chamber of Commerce, Nevsehir. During the discussion the Chairman expressed his and his membership’s willingness to explore the potentials in Sri Lanka especially in the construction sector, hospitality sector and explore establishment of trade activities with Sri Lanka. Furthermore the Ambassador of Sri Lanka and the Chairman of Nevsehir Chamber of Commerce & Industry agreed to exchange the details of potential trade & investment activities in Turkey and Sri Lanka in the future. Also the Chamber membership shown their keen interest of joining the business delegation visiting Sri Lankan in coming months parallel to the Second Session of Sri Lanka – Turkey Joint Economic & Technical Cooperation meeting scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in the second quarter of the year.

Mr. Mahmut Uluer, Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka to Central Anatolia Region, Nevsehir and Ms. Yoshitha Jayasuriya Counsellor (Commercial) accompanied the Ambassador during the meetings.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Ankara, Turkey
16.03.2020