The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Cairo organized a meeting with the officials of the Alexandria Business Association(ABA) on 18^th October 2023 at the ABA headquarters. Mr. Mohamed Hanno, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Dr. Mohamed Muharram, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, received H.E Mr. M.K. Pathmanaathan, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Egypt, and Mr. Kasun Balasooriya, Second Secretary Commercial of the Embassy.

At the meeting Mr. Mohamed Hanno, ABA Chairman, and Dr. Mohamed Mehrem, ABA Vice Chairman, welcomed the Ambassador and the team from the Embassy of Sri Lanka with the aim of encouraging trade, economic, and investment cooperation between the two countries in various areas. H.E. Mr. M.K. Pathmanaathan explained the political and economic recessions faced by Sri Lanka since 2020 and the current economic reforms taking place in various areas such as agriculture, tourism, trade, and business. Adding more to his remarks, Ambassador Pathmanaathan stated that the situation started to change rapidly towards a positive direction due to the reforms implemented by the government under the new President. His Excellency also mentioned that the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Sri Lanka had begun since 1956 and confirmed that there are smooth Egyptian-Sri Lankan trade relations. During his remarks, Mr. Mohamed Hanno confirmed that ABA looks forward to developing more cooperation with Sri Lanka through the members of ABA.

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Cairo organized a tourism promotion event in Alexandria Governorate, the second-largest city and former capital of Egypt. The Alexandria Governorate is home to a number of reputed outbound tour operators who offer travel packages to their clients to visit various tourism destinations in the world, including Sri Lanka.

Eighteen well-known outbound travel agents based in the Alexandria Governorate were invited to this promotional event, which took place at the Royal JEWEL Hotel in Alexandria city on 18^th October 2023 under the patronage of H.E. Mr. M.K. Pathmanaathan, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Egypt.

The event included the screening of promotional videos showcasing the tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, as well as a detailed presentation to increase awareness among travel agents about Sri Lanka as a prime destination in the South Asian region. The presentation, conducted by Mr. Kasun Balasooriya, Second Secretary (Commercial), included important factors to be aware of by the Egyptian travel agents when they promote Sri Lanka as a destination to their prospective clients, such as visa application procedures, airlines flying to Sri Lanka from Egypt, average airfare costs, available accommodation types, accessibility for the local transportation network in Sri Lanka, and finding authorized tour operators (counterparts) in Sri Lanka, etc., which were well received by the travel agents. Following the presentation, participants were provided with a Q&A session to address any concerns and questions they had about promoting Sri Lanka to their clients and connecting with tour operators in Sri Lanka.

The event concluded with the distribution of giveaway packages containing promotional brochures on Sri Lanka Tourism and pure Ceylon tea, which was eagerly received by the Egyptian tour operators.