Sri Lankan owned resort investments continue to operate successfully in the aldives. In 2025, bilateral trade reached approximately US$137 million. Sri Lankan exports accounted for around US$130 million and imports from the Maldives totalled approximately US$5.7 million, Masood Imad High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives to Sri Lanka told the Sri anka\u2013Maldives Business Council 18th Annual General Meeting held in Colombo on July 28 participating as the guest of honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe remain committed to working closely with Sri Lanka to remove unnecessary obstacles, expand trade and investment, deepen people-to-people ties, and ensure that the next chapter of our relationship is remembered not only for its proud history, but also for its shared future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imad said the Sri Lanka\u2013Maldives Business Council is playing an important role in strengthening the economic partnership between the two nations. It is building on a friendship that has stood the test of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTogether, we are creating a partnership based on trust, mutual respect, reciprocity, and shared prosperity. The Maldives and Sri Lanka have enjoyed a friendship for centuries. It goes far beyond geography. History, culture, commerce, education, and family ties have bound our peoples together. Sri Lanka remains one of the Maldives\u2019 most valued trading partners. It provides essential goods and services that contribute greatly to our economy and to the well-being of our people. If we are honest with ourselves, we must also recognize an important reality. Our friendship is deep. It is genuine. Yet our economic relationship has not fully reflected the strength of that friendship. There was a time when our partnership was known for confidence, transparency, and mutual benefit. Today, despite the goodwill that continues between our peoples, there is a growing sense that we have drifted from that shared spirit of balance and reciprocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI convey this not in a condescending manner, but as an invitation for genuine reflection. True friends should be able to speak difficult truths respectfully and sincerely. To restore the energy that once defined our partnership, we must first understand what has gradually weakened it. It serves neither the Maldives nor Sri Lanka if policies, administrative practices, or perceptions create unintended barriers between two nations whose destinies have been intertwined for generations. We often speak of our special relationship. And rightly so. But it is our shared responsibility to ensure that this friendship is not only spoken about, but experienced by our people and our businesses every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The High Commissioner said the Maldives has always maintained an inviting and accommodating perspective on Sri Lanka. Between 2023 and 2025, more than 30,100 Sri Lankans were employed in the Maldives through active and newly issued work permits. During the same period, the Maldives also issued 238 student visas and 616 dependent visas and today, more than 31,300 Sri Lankans live, work, study, and contribute to Maldivian society. These figures represent more than labour mobility. They reflect the confidence that Sri Lankan professionals, entrepreneurs, and families continue to place in the Maldives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the Maldivian community in Sri Lanka has declined to around 1,700 people. Most are students, accompanying parents, or people seeking medical treatment. This is not simply about numbers nor is it a call for equal population flows. Rather, it raises an important question. \u201c Does the experience of our people truly reflect the friendship we proudly profess?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Daily News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sri Lankan owned resort investments continue to operate successfully in the aldives. In 2025, bilateral trade reached approximately US$137 million. Sri Lankan exports accounted for around US$130 million and imports from the Maldives totalled approximately US$5.7 million, Masood Imad High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives to Sri Lanka told the Sri anka\u2013Maldives Business Council […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7422,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420\/revisions\/7422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintechnews.lk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}