Sri Lanka signs FTA with Singapore covering services, investments and ecommerce
Sri Lanka and Signapore yesterday signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that covers services, investment and ecommerce for greater economic cooperation between the two countries.
The FTA was signed at the Presidential Secretariat with Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama signing on behalf of Sri Lanka and Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran signing for Singapore.
President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Singaporean counterpart Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were also present at the occasion.
The Singaporean Prime Minister is currently in Sri Lanka on a three-day visit from Monday (22).
The Sri Lankan government after signing the FTA has released select details of the agreement with Singapore.
“To have done our first comprehensive agreement with Singapore – a country regarded as being one of the most open and liberalised economies and having high-quality institutions – is an especially important milestone for Sri Lanka,” a statement released by the Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry has said.
“It signals the commitment of the government to usher in an era of openness for Sri Lanka, and become a formidable economic hub in the Indian Ocean. This agreement is an important part of the new ‘National Trade Policy’ launched last year, and is a linchpin in the ongoing trade policy reforms. To complement this, SL is undertaking domestic reforms and initiatives to make Sri Lanka internationally competitive,” the statement has further noted.
“The Singapore-Sri Lanka FTA is part of a broader strategy of looking East to renew our trade relationships. While we focus on growing and sustaining in our traditional markets of the US and Europe, we have begun to diversify our markets towards Asia and focus on plugging into Asian supply chains.
“This FTA is our first agreement with a South East Asian country – and we envisage this as a first step towards closer integration with ASEAN, and potentially be part of the RCEP – Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – in the future.”
OSL take:
The signing of the FTA between Sri Lanka and Singapore will open up new trade and investment opportunities for local as well as foreign investors looking at doing business with the two countries. Sri Lanka already has trade agreements with several countries in the Asian region and also enjoys the GSP Plus trade concessions from the EU. The FTA with Singapore will add to the trade and business opportunities in Sri Lanka and the island nation could be used as a launching pad for foreign businesses looking at penetrating the South Asian economies.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20180124/Z_2 |