Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran will visit Sri Lanka to strengthen bilateral relations and open up business opportunities for Singapore companies in the fast-growing market, Channel News Asia said.

Iswaran will visit Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, and Trincomalee, a major port city in the eastern province, from Tuesday (May 31) to Thursday, the Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said.

While in Colombo, he will attend the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Forum with Sri Lanka Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama on Jun 1. Iswaran will also call on Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister for Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathuideen, and Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Champika Ranawaka.

On Jun 2, Iswaran will travel to Trincomalee where he will visit Singapore subsidiary Prima Ceylon Flour Mill Complex, the largest integrated flour milling complex in Sri Lanka. He will also call on Chief Minister of the Eastern Province Ahamed Nazeer.

A business delegation of 28 Singapore companies, led by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), will also be in Colombo to explore business opportunities there.

Sri Lanka was Singapore’s 39th largest trading partner in 2015, with bilateral trade amounting to Singapore $ 2.05 billion. Foreign direct investment from Singapore to Sri Lanka amounted to Singapore $ 656 million as of 2014, MTI said.

(With inputs from Channel News Asia)