High Commissioner, Air Chief Marshal Udeni Rajapaksha met Managing Director of Ceylon Sugar Industries and Holding (Pvt) Ltd, Saman Dikkumbura, Chairman of the Black Agricultural Commodities Federation (BACF), and representative of the National Sugar Institute (NSI), Kanpur, India at the High Commission premises on 12 December 2025.
Dikkumbura from Sri Lanka, participated in the “Sweet Sorghum, Sugarcane, Bio-Ethanol and Bio-Fertilizer International Conference and Workshop 2025”, held at the East London International Conference Centre, South Africa. During this conference, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by three institutes with the objective of strategic knowledge development for farmers and employees of sugar factories and agricultural farms in South Africa. The MoU aims to promote capacity building, skills enhancement, and the exchange of best practices among the participating countries.
Meeting with the High Commission is focused on strengthening bilateral and trilateral cooperation in the sugar and biofuel sectors, as well as exploring investment opportunities and technology partnerships in agriculture and renewable energy.
The First Secretary (Commercial), Thiloka Perera, during the discussion held at the Mission premises, expressed her sincere appreciation to Dikkumbura for his leadership in knowledge sharing and for conceptualizing an initiative that delivers mutual benefits to Sri Lanka, India, and South Africa.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
Pretoria
23 December 2025
