Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were relatively unfamiliar to me until the dismantlement of the Soviet Union in 1991.
My interest in Sri Lanka dates back to the early 1990s. At the time I was engaged in the raw cotton business with Kabul Lanka Pvt. Ltd in Colombo. I supplied cotton with the company, a joint venture with the Korean Kabul Spinning Company. It was a leading manufacturer and exporter in Sri Lanka s textile sector.