Sri Lanka looking to enter BRICS to expand economy
The Morning: Sri Lanka cabinet is looking into entering BRICS as the country plans to grow the economy after its worst economic crisis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said.
In a recent television interview, he said that Sri Lanka is looking at entering BRICS as an option which was suggested by the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.
However, he said that BRICS is too early for Sri Lanka as many people are interested in entering the bloc, “they are not going to just accept us, it will take little time,” he added.
“I have gone to the cabinet and asked to appoint a committee to look into that and finalise it,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said that Sri Lanka should look into entering larger Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with individual countries or larger blocs such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) until the country gets into regional blocs such as BRICS.
BRICS represents 41% of the world’s population, while 24% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 16% of world trade activities are carried out by the bloc.
Furthermore, 10.3% of Sri Lanka’s exports and 47.3% of imports in the year 2022 are made from BRICS countries and for such reasons, the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs suggested that it would be viable for Sri Lanka to enter the bloc.
The Committee recommended last year that a special discussion be held with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Finance under the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the social, economic and political benefits that can be obtained through working with the BRICS countries.
Last year, BRICS admitted Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka is focused on expanding its economy as well as the business/investment opportunities in the country on its path to becoming a regional hub. Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed with other countries have also helped Sri Lanka become an emerging business destination in the South Asian region. The ongoing activities and growing opportunities in Sri Lanka are not lost on the foreign businesses given the interest shown by them to explore opportunities in the country as well as invest. Sri Lanka already figures prominently in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and by joining with BRICS, the country would further amplify its key economic sectors creating more business/investment opportunities. With Sri Lanka showing a steady growth and business potential, foreign businesses/investors could explore the expanding opportunities in the country while also looking at forming collaborations with local businesses with the aim of further expansion.