Australian expert hails Sri Lankan government’s move to use free trade agreements as a key tool of reforms
An Australian expert in free trade agreements (FTAs) has reportedly said that using FTAs as the key tool of reform in a multi-party political system is a bold move.
“FTAs are not a quick fix,” Elizabeth Ward, Chief Negotiator for Australia in its FTA with Hong Kong has been quoted as saying at a discussion at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute.
“Unless you’re a one party government, using FTAs to do reforms will be hard. It’s a courageous thing to do,” she has said.
According to reports, Sri Lanka has run into stiff resistance on FTAs from opposition parties and their affiliated special interest groups and activists, who have benefitted from restricting consumer freedoms for decades.
After Sri Lanka liberalised trade in 1977 from a closed economy, protectionism has crept back in by the 2000s, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a local media report stated.
The report further stated that the IMF has said that so-called para tariffs in Sri Lanka have effectively doubled protection on goods and services.
According to Ward, as long as the government doesn’t communicate benefits of FTAs properly, groups will be able to manipulate public sentiment.
She has said Sri Lanka should set up a trade policy which has bipartisan support, so that changes in government do not sabotage liberalisation or FTA negotiation processes.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government has expressed its commitment to improve bilateral trade with other countries through trade agreements. Sri Lanka signed an FTA with Singapore early this year and is currently in the process of looking at FTAs with Thailand and Bangladesh. Given the country’s close trade ties with many countries and trade concessions by the EU and US, Sri Lanka is an attractive destination for business. Therefore foreign businesses/investors could explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/17092018/Z_2 |