By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Australia says its friendship with Sri Lanka is friendly but fierce on the cricket field.
This was stated by Australia’s Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tim Watts MP, when he signed the renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Sports between Sri Lanka and Australia, together with Sri Lanka’s Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Roshan Ranasinghe MP.
The signing of the MoU will further strengthen the longstanding sporting ties between Sri Lanka and Australia. It will encourage cooperation on areas including coach education, training, sports science and medicine, gender equality in sports, and anti-corruption and anti-doping practices, the Australian High Commission in Colombo said.
Following the signing, Assistant Minister Watts tested his cricket skills with members of Sri Lanka’s national women’s and men’s teams.
He also reflected on the shared sporting history at the Sri Lanka Cricket Museum with Sri Lankan cricketing legend Aravinda de Silva and representatives of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“Sport is a shared passion and links us together, highlighted by our friendly but fierce rivalry on the cricket field, and I am pleased to renew the Memorandum of Understanding in Sports Cooperation between Australia and Sri Lanka,” Tim Watts said.
Sri Lanka Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said that whatever the sporting rivalry is, he looks forward to cooperating under the MOU to find and nurture Sri Lankan and Australian talent.
He says it will provide the framework to work together to get the best out of the athletes and showcase them to the world
he 2017 Australia-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) advances economic cooperation between Australia and Sri Lanka.
Under TIFA, the Joint Trade and Investment Committee (JTC) strengthens our economic relationship, including facilitating market access and investment. This makes it easier for Australian and Sri Lankan businesses to trade and invest with each other.
Total two-way goods and services trade between Australia and Sri Lanka was valued at $1.3 billion in 2021, with Australian exports driven by education services and agricultural products. Australia’s total investment in Sri Lanka was $92 million in 2021, and Sri Lanka’s total investment in Australia was $50 million.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka was ranked the twentieth most popular tourist destination for Australians, with Australia the fifth largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka.
Australia supported Sri Lanka to deliver a national tourism development strategy. It has continued to support tourism recovery and resilience in Sri Lanka since the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
