Belarus earns over $20m by exporting education services to Sri Lanka

Belarus’ export of education services to Sri Lanka amounts to $20 million. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov made the statement on the air of the TV channel Belarus One, BelTA has learned.

“The export of our education services exceeds $20 million. This is what we earn by educating Sri Lankan students. According to last year’s statistics from the Sri Lankan side, more than 10,000 Belarusian tourists visited the country,” the head of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.

Ten cooperation agreements have been signed between the countries at the inter-university level, including a memorandum of understanding signed in Q1 2026 between Polessky State University and the University of Kelaniya.

Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka, spoke about the Sri Lankan side’s plans to supply Belarus with precious stones for subsequent processing. Sri Lanka is one of the world leaders in the extraction and export of gemstones. This country is especially famous for sapphires and rubies. “In turn, we expect to be able to increase shipments of mechanical engineering and agricultural equipment and fertilizers from Belarus,” Vijitha Herath added.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a meeting with the head of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs the other day. “We will be very pleased to maintain relations with you and to improve them, including in the economic area, by forming a roadmap, a plan for our cooperation. The economy is the foundation of any relationship. Therefore, we would like to build solid, good relations with you,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

He added that the two countries need to determine what is of interest and value to each other in the economic area: “[We need] a plan for our relations, even if it consists of three or four points, it doesn’t matter. But it must exist so that we have clear goals that we will strive toward together.”

Documents aimed at improving the bilateral economic relations were signed during the visit of the Sri Lankan delegation to Belarus. In accordance with one of them, direct flights will be established between Belarus and Sri Lanka by the end of the year.