Voting for the presidential election in Sri Lanka kicked off on Saturday, with over 17 million registered voters to elect the country's president for the next five years.
A total of 38 candidates contest in this year's presidential election, including incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa of the opposition Samagi Jana Balawega (SJB), and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People's Power (NPP).
Voting started at 7:00 local time on Saturday and will end at 16:00 on the same day. The final result will be revealed on Sunday.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won the presidential election in November 2019, resigned from the post in July 2022 amid a severe economic crisis in the South Asian country.
Wickremesinghe was elected as president in an election held in parliament following Rajapaksa's resignation.
Two years after the country declared bankruptcy, economic issues will play a major role in the outcome of the election.
"I think the prices of food, prices of daily essentials, prices of things like petrol, diesel, those are the things that are going to be on top of the mind of the voters," said Riyad Riffai, one of the voters.
Voting for Sri Lanka's presidential election kicks off
The three-day Third Global Geographical Indications Products Expo opened in Luzhou City of southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday, bringing together over 900 domestic and international enterprises to showcase more than 3,200 distinctive products bearing geographical indications. This year's edition of the expo features six exquisite exhibition halls including the Pavilion of Spain, the China-EU Pavilion and the Featured Products Pavilion. Hundreds of geographical indications products from over 20 countries and regions such as Spain, Cyprus and Sri Lanka are highlighted at the event.
In recent years, more than 30 countries and regions and over 1,400 enterprises have leveraged the Expo to facilitate the broader, larger-scale, and higher-quality cross-border flow of landmark products.
"We are now selling to nine countries, including Russia and Australia, while the number of countries signing agreements of intent with us has surpassed 20. This year, the value of our exports is expected to exceed 10 million yuan (about 1.4 million U.S. dollars)," said Shui Bijie, a Chinese exhibitor.
At the Comprehensive Pavilion, a variety of specialty foods and wines from around the world are showcased. Exhibitors say that their products have been well-received by Chinese consumers in previous editions of the expo, motivating them to expand further into the Chinese market.
"We are looking for agents to collaborate with, whether in Luzhou, Chengdu of Sichuan, or other regions, to help promote our red wine," said a foreign exhibitor.
"Following the success in holding the first and second Global Geographical Indications Products Expos in Luzhou, the cumulative number of products with geographical indications has exceeded 4,000. The expo attracted over 250,000 visitors and generated more than 68 million yuan in on-site transactions, driving consumption to exceed 300 million yuan," said Wang Binda, executive vice mayor of Luzhou City.
Third Global Geographical Indications Products Expo opens in Sichuan
