President Ebrahim Raisi says Iranian companies and specialists are ready to participate in other construction projects in Sri Lanka and provide technical-engineering services in order to help the island nation progress and prosper.

According to The Iran Project,According to IRNA, Raisi extended his country’s support for development projects in the joint meeting of high-ranking delegations of the two countries late on Wednesday.

While expressing his satisfaction with the official opening of the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project, the Iranian president described the joint implementation of the project as one of the symbols and manifestations of solidarity and friendship between Tehran and Colombo.

I suggest the formation of a joint working group with the presence of relevant ministers to accelerate economic relations and regular meetings of the joint economic commission can be very effective in improving the level of commercial relations between the two sides, Raisi told the participants in the meeting.

Referring Iran’s progress in the fields of culture, science and education, Raisi also expressed readiness to transfer his country’s valuable experiences to Sri Lanka. "Educated and motivated young forces are the greatest capacity of the two countries for progress, and Iran is committed to improving the level of cooperation”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president pointed to suitable infrastructures available in the two countries to boost cooperation in various domains but called on Sri Lankan officials not to submit to outside pressures and compromise with their national interest.   

Westerners do not want our progress and that is why they resort to several tactics, including human rights allegation to put pressure on independent countries and therefore it is necessary for Iran and Sri Lanka to strengthen their regional and international cooperation to neutralize such pressures, he added.