COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is trying to position itself in the dialogue between the Global South and North, its foreign minister said, following the World Economic Forum鈥檚 special meeting on global collaboration organized by 海角直播.
The WEF鈥檚 Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development convened 1,000 global leaders arriving in Riyadh from 92 countries on April 28-29 to find actionable, collaborative and sustainable solutions to shared challenges.
The meeting saw a focus on the Global South, or countries, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere and largely in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which until recently have often been described as developing or less developed.
Sri Lanka FM Ali Sabry represented the Global South perspective at the forum鈥檚 session titled 鈥淣orth to South, East to West: Rebuilding Trust鈥 alongside his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
鈥淚t was a great opportunity for me to showcase Sri Lanka and the challenges that countries in the Global South face, and also to position Sri Lanka as an important player, particularly in the Global South in shaping the future 鈥 for collaboration, peace and stability, rather than confrontation,鈥 he told Arab News.
The minister was in Riyadh at the invitation of Prince Faisal, with whom he also held a meeting.
鈥淲e look forward to elevating the partnership,鈥 Sabry said.
鈥淲e intend to sign the investment protection agreement that would probably pave the way for the inflow of investment into Sri Lanka.鈥
He also met other Saudi leaders during his visit to explore further cooperation possibilities.
The Kingdom has expanded ties with the South Asian island nation since last year, agreeing to broaden political consultation and launching a new employment scheme aimed at boosting Sri Lanka鈥檚 manpower exports.
Colombo has since sought Saudi assistance in developing several of its key sectors, including tourism and agriculture.
