Ambassador Shobini Gunasekera, accompanied by First Secretary (Commercial), Sanjeewa Bandara, met the senior representatives of Business Russia (Delovaya Rossiya) at the organization’s headquarters in Moscow.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman and Head of the Executive Committee, Nonna Kagramanyan, Director of the Department for International Cooperation, Anton Slinchenko, and Head of Division (MENA/Southeast Asia), Department for International Cooperation, Diana Kamaletdinova.
Discussions focused on strengthening trade and commercial ties between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation, with particular emphasis on expanding collaboration in the non-resource sectors. The Ambassador briefed the Business Russia delegation on Sri Lanka’s key export sectors, including tea, spices, agro products and apparel, as well as emerging opportunities in ICT and tourism.
During the meeting, the Ambassador extended a formal invitation to Business Russia and its member companies to participate in Sri Lanka Expo 2026, scheduled to be held from 18–21 June 2026 in Colombo. Business Russia welcomed the invitation and expressed interest in exploring the possibility of organizing a business delegation to attend the event.
The parties also discussed potential for cooperation in the field of labour mobility. The Sri Lanka side highlighted the capabilities of Sri Lanka’s skilled and semi-skilled workforce and their experience in overseas employment across multiple sectors. Possible avenues for facilitating transparent and mutually beneficial labour supply arrangements to their member companies were explored.
Both sides further exchanged views on facilitating direct business-to-business (B2B) engagement, organizing trade missions and sector-specific forums parallel to the Inter-Governmental Commission. The possibility of establishing structured cooperation between Business Russia and relevant Sri Lankan chambers and trade promotion bodies was also discussed.
Business Russia is one of the leading national business associations in the Russian Federation, representing over 7,000 entrepreneurs across all 85 regions of the country. The organization plays a key role in promoting the interests of private non-resource sector enterprises and maintains extensive engagement with federal and regional authorities, as well as international partners.
The meeting concluded with mutual agreement to maintain close contact and to work towards organizing follow-up interactions between the business communities of the two countries in the near future.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Moscow
12 March 2026
