Sri Lanka and Belarus kicked off their first-ever bilateral trade meeting on Wednesday in the hopes of entering the world’s newest single market, an official said.

The Sri Lanka-Belarus Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation will be held in Colombo with the participation of Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Valentin B. Rybakov.

Rybakov arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday leading a 20-member delegation of the government of Belarus, for the historic trade meeting.

“Our newest trade effort with Belarus strengthens the historic relations and more importantly, gives us direct access to the world’s newest single economic market,” Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiyutheen said ahead of the meeting.

Members of the Belarusian delegation are mainly from the sectors of agriculture, agricultural machinery and fisheries.

Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The three members of EEU are Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Belarus, the gateway to the Eurasian Economic Community Customs Union, remains a virgin market for Sri Lanka and from Jan. 1, 2015 EEU will create a single economic market that is expected to give a new boost for Sri Lanka’s export diversification efforts.

According to the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka ‘s trade with Belarus has recorded an erratic pattern over the years.

Total trade between the two countries stood at 14.24 million U. S. dollars in 2013 with balance of trade in favor of Belarus.

Sri Lanka was ranked the 69th among the countries which exported to Belarus in 2012. Sri Lanka’s exports to Belarus is dominated by tea with a share of about 94 percent, followed by rubber products.

The two countries are strengthening relations following a visit to Belarus by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in August 2013, Xinhua reports.