Ceylon Chamber welcomes ETCA but urges ‘White Paper” for public scrutiny
View(s):The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) welcomed the Prime Minister’s statement in Parliament this week explaining the government stance on the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India but urged regular consultations and an “information sharing process with the private sector”. “Any bilateral or regional agreement that Sri Lanka forges must be supportive of the country’s holistic economic interests (rather than cater to individual business interests); must recognise size asymmetry of the economy; and must take a phased approach to liberalisation where domestic regulatory systems need updating (for instance, on movement of natural persons in professional services),” it said in a statement to the media.
Noting that an important element in the overall process of forging new agreements is transparent, systematic, and broad-based consultations with the private sector, the chamber observed with concern the level of “misinformed opposition proliferating in the media regarding the proposed ETCA, which can in part be attributed to the lack of robust information sharing and a systematic consultative process. We extend our support to the government to help more stakeholders in the private sector understand the gains and challenges of such a bilateral agreement”.
It said a dialogue process that is well structured and includes all relevant stakeholders can mitigate the risks of the current ETCA process suffering from the difficulties that the earlier proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) suffered. “We call on the government ministries and departments involved in the process to adopt a more systematic approach to private sector consultations, so that we may mobilize evidence-based representations from the private sector,” the chamber said, urging that the government publishes a ‘White Paper’ on ‘Expanding trade in services, investment and economic cooperation with India’, which captures the government’s thinking on the issue, and clarifies the approach to be taken.
It said opposition to the ETCA (and further overall liberalization of trade in goods and services) citing ‘national interest concerns’ must be carefully examined alongside the potential gains to consumers and firms in Sri Lanka. The latter too is ultimately a matter of national interest, it said. “While it is governments that sign trade agreements, they ultimately impact – positively and negatively – on consumers and businesses. The trust and confidence of the private sector in new trade agreements the government may forge in the future necessarily depends on how the ongoing ETCA process is handled,” the statement said.