Palestine Ambassador in Sri Lanka Dr. Anwar Ali Agha on Wednesday said that the Palestinian government expects a large delegation from Sri Lanka for the forthcoming Business and Investment Conference to be held in Bethlehem. There will be around 3,000 delegates attending it.

Dr. Agha stressed the need to have closer bilateral cooperation between the two countries and added that there were were many investment opportunities in Sri Lanka in which Palestinian entrepreneurs would be interested.

"Our embassy here would get in touch with institutions like the Chamber of Commerce, government agencies such as EDB and BOI in order to promote the event and encourage participation," he said.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake who visited Iran recently with a Sri Lankan delegation said that he has already had fruitful discussions with the Palestinian authorities on many key areas beneficial to both countries.

The Prime minister said that the Palestine President Mohamed Abbas has expressed his desire to visit Sri Lanka in the near future.

Prime Minister Wickramanayake would hold further discussions with the Palestinian Ambassador and advice him on promoting the conference in Bethlehem among the business community and the relevent agencies in Sri Lanka, Seelaratne Senarath Media spokesman for the Prime Minister said.