Trade

Sri Lanka and the State of Kuwait have been long standing trading partners. Kuwait is the 53rd export destination and 44th import origin for Sri Lanka in 2024. The total export value was USD 26.4 Mn and import value was USD 22.33 Mn for Sri Lanka from Kuwait in year 2024. Tea has become the dominant export item to Kuwait followed by Coconut milk powder, Coconut Oil, Cinnamon, Fruits & Vegetables, and Retreated rubber. Within 2019 to 2024, the bilateral trade export was fluctuated and there is a sharp increase of Sri Lanka’s exports since 2023.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has commenced its lending to Sri Lanka in 1975 and extended loans on concessionary term to finance development projects. Currently, KFAED has mainly invested in construction of building complex for the Faculty of Health Care Services at Eastern University, construction & equipping of Faculty of Medicine at University of Moratuwa project, Phase 2 of Central Expressway project and Kalu Ganga Development project. A bilateral financial arrangement agreement for debt restructuring has been signed between KFAED and government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for loan effectiveness and to proceed with pending withdrawals from KFAD under the ongoing projects in Sri Lanka.

The First Session of Sri Lanka-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Committee Meeting on Trade and Technical Cooperation was held in Colombo in 1997, following the signing of the Agreement on Trade on 26th April 1994. The Second Session was held in Kuwait in October, 2018 and the Third Session of the Joint Committee has to be held in Colombo in future.

The National Chamber of Commerce (NCCSL) in Sri Lanka and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) signed a MoU on 30th January 2020 with the objective of promoting trade, technical and economic cooperation between two countries. The signing of the MoU is one of the outcomes of the 2nd Session of Sri Lanka-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Committee on Trade & Technical Cooperation held in October, 2018 in the State of Kuwait.