On August 18, 2016, Mr. T. M. K. B. Tennekoon, Secretary, Ministry of Industry & Commerce of Sri Lanka, started his working visit to the Republic of Belarus, with bilateral meetings with Mr. Leonid Zayats, Minister of Agrifood, and Mr. Alexandre Ogorodnikov, Deputy Minister of Industry of the Republic of Belarus.

These were important opportunities to discuss matters of reciprocal interest in the areas of agriculture and industry in advance of the Sri Lanka-Belarus Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade & Economic Cooperation held the next day, August 19, co-chaired by Secretary Tennekoon and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Mr. Valentin Rybakov.