Australian High Commissioner calls on EDB Chief to boost trade ties
Daily FT: Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Paul Stephens and his team met recently Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman and Chief Executive Mangala Wijesinghe to strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
Over the past 75 years, Sri Lanka and Australia bilateral relationship has vastly expanded over through deep people-to-people ties, trade and investment, tourism, culture and sports.
This relationship is strong and enduring, underpinned by shared history and common values. Trade and investment between two countries have been increasing over the time.
Australia ranks as the 11th largest export destination for Sri Lanka, with total exports amounting to $ 226.51 million in 2023. It also stands as the 24th largest source of imports for Sri Lanka, with total imports valued at $ 185.89 million during the same period. This results in a favourable trade balance for Sri Lanka of approximately $ 40 million.
Wijesinghe elaborated on the new Government’s vision for export development, highlighting the critical role of partnerships in fostering Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He emphasised the Government’s commitment to streamlining and expediting the approval process for FDIs to create a more investor-friendly environment.
Additionally, Wijesinghe underscored the necessity for Sri Lanka to align with global manufacturing trends to integrate into international supply chains.
He stressed the importance of enhancing bilateral trade relations with Australia as a key step toward achieving this goal and strengthening Sri Lanka’s position in the global market.
The High Commissioner explained the potential for Australia to invest in the Mineral Sector in Sri Lanka as well as joint ventures on export led manufacturing. Further he explained the interest of Australian companies to invest in Sri Lanka targeting export-led manufacturing and processing.
Especially, develop Sri Lanka as a commodity hub for the value adding of Australian agri commodities targeting export markets under the benefits of free/preferential trade agreements. Both parties agreed to discuss further on the possibility of implementation of this proposal.
Australia and Sri Lanka maintain a robust trade relationship underpinned by a framework arrangement and development cooperation.
The Australia-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) serves as a cornerstone for advancing economic collaboration between the two nations. The TIFA action plan focuses on key areas such as facilitating quarantine processes for agricultural exports, promoting investment programs, enhancing market access for SME exports, attracting high-end tourists, and fostering partnerships for broader adoption of digital technologies.
In 2023, Sri Lanka’s major exports to Australia included apparel, tea, rubber tires and tubes, rubber gloves, motor vehicles and parts, as well as edible preparations. Conversely, the primary imports from Australia consisted of lentils, cereals, meat preparations, dairy products, pharmaceuticals and paints.
The EDB has identified significant opportunities to expand exports to Australia in sectors such as apparel, tea and mate, plastics and rubber products, fish and shellfish and paper products.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s exports industry is on a steady growth path showing signs of further expansion in-line with the country’s overall economic expansion. While the country’s strong trade ties with many foreign countries have helped boost the exports industry, the move to further strengthen and expand these ties to include new foreign markets have further increased the business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s trade sector. Local exports authorities have also taken steps to engage in promotional programmes in many foreign markets while also encouraging local exporters to diversify and expand their existing export product portfolios. The increasing potential in Sri Lanka’s exports industry is noticed by foreign markets as well. This is evident by the interest shown by many foreign countries including Australia to expand trade ties with Sri Lanka. Given the increasing business potential in the local exports industry, foreign businesses/investors could explore the expanding business/investment opportunities in the industry while also looking at forming partnerships or joint ventures with local businesses in the industry with the aim of further expanding operations locally and internationally.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20241218/Z_7 |