News
ETCA talks next month, free trade deals with China, Singapore too
View(s):Negotiations between Sri Lankan and Indian officials to arrive at a draft Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) will be held on August 9 and 10, a senior Minister said. The venue for the talks is yet to be decided. “We have made some progress and are hoping to start negotiations around August 9 and 10 at officials’ level,” Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said.
Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation is due between August 2 and 4 to reopen stalled talks on the China-Lanka Free Trade Agreement. “The negotiations had stopped for a couple of years, but we are now starting them again,” the Minister said. “We want to be transparent from the beginning about the process.”
To deflect criticism that the Government is opaque in its dealings on ETCA, the team representing Sri Lanka at the talks will include a nominee of the private sector. This core group will also negotiate with Singapore and China with a view to drafting FTAs with those countries.
The team comprises Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and a Government adviser; Sonali Wijeratne, Director General of Commerce; Arittha Wikramanayake, Precedent Partner of the law firm Nithya Partners; K. J. Weerasinghe, a former DG of Commerce; representatives of the Ministry of Finance and of the Customs Department; and a representative jointly identified by professional groups and trade chambers.
There had been continuous discussions over the past seven months with trade chambers, officials of other ministries and professional organisations to ensure transparency, Mr. Samarawickrama said. There have also been talks “on and off” with the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), one of the most strident opponents of ETCA.
Minister Samarawickrama said he had invited political parties represented in Parliament for discussions on ETCA but received no response. “They have not come back to me,” he said. “The President is well aware of what we are doing and, like all of us, is in support of any agreement that is beneficial to the country. We don’t know how it will end up. We are just beginning negotiations. But we are confident we will get a good agreement for the country.”
Minister Samarawickrama has made multiple bilateral trips in pursuit of the trade agreements the Government espouses. And he repeated the mantra that Sri Lanka must now look beyond its borders. “One thing that has come out very clearly during all our visits — whether it’s to China, to India, or to Singapore — is that we have a very small market of 20 million in Sri Lanka,” he said. “If we are to improve the living standards of our people, we have to be far more competitive in our production and manufacturing base and then have a market we can export to.”
“With the GSP Plus, we are opening the European market,” he said. “With FTAs with China, Singapore and India, we are opening those markets as well.” During his recent visit to India, Minister Samarawickrama proposed “early harvest” measures or the removal of more barriers hampering Sri Lankan exports to India. Among these is a specification that goods must meet criteria set by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which delays perishable items at entry points while tests are being carried out. Any additional concessions that are agreed upon, however, will come into effect only once the ETCA is signed.