Sri Lanka informs Singapore its readiness to implement free trade agreement.
Daily FT: Sri Lanka has informed Singapore that it is ready to implement the Free Trade Agreement signed by the two countries in 2018. Sri Lanka’s intention was conveyed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during their meeting in Tokyo on the sidelines of the State funeral of Japan’s former Premier Shinzo Abe.
During the discussions, President Wickremesinghe informed the Singaporean Prime Minister that an international trade office was being established in the President’s office. He also explained that his priority was to bring into effect the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the news and stated that Singapore was looking forward to investing in Sri Lanka once again.
President Wickremesinghe invited the Singaporean Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka next year when the country celebrates its 75th Independence Anniversary.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka currently enjoys free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries while also enjoying trade concessions from the EU and US. However, as part of its ongoing development and economic expansion programme, Sri Lanka is looking at reviewing the country’s existing FTAs while exploring new trade agreements to be reached with other countries. The proposed FTA with Singapore has been in the pipeline for a while and the government of Sri Lanka is now prepared to move forward with finalizing the Singapore FTA. This move would further expand Sri Lanka’s exports sector including new trading areas. Foreign businesses/investors could explore the many trade agreements and concessions enjoyed by Sri Lanka to set up base in the country to engage with the respective countries using Sri Lanka’s trade agreements with them. With Sri Lanka working towards becoming an emerging business destination in the South Asian region, the expanding opportunities in the country presents many lucrative business/investment opportunities to foreign businesses/investors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/04102022/X_2 |