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Govt. fast-tracks National Trade Policy to facilitate ETCA
View(s):“The first draft of that policy will be submitted to the Government for consideration and will be further shaped by amendments, before it is shared with professional organisations and trade unions, while an initial note prepared by the head of the committee is under discussion” Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry Secretary Chandanie Wijewardena told the Sunday Times.
The committee, headed by Dr Ravi Ratnayake, an international economist specialising in economic development, trade and investment, also includes Senior Presidential Advisor, Dr Sarath Rajapathirana; Subhashini Abeysinghe, Senior Analyst and Head of Economics at Verité Research, an independent multi-disciplinary think tank; Additional Secretary of the ministry, W.D.S. Gunasinghe; Director- Dept of Trade and Investment of Ministry of Finance, V. Vimalarajah; Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Representative, U.G. Ratnasiri and Central Bank Assistant Governor, K.D. Ranasinghe.
Minister Malik Samarawickrama has instructed the committee to prepare the draft, as the government, in its initial steps to start negotiations on the proposed ETCA agreement with India, wants to put a national trade policy in place before finalising the pact. Once the complete draft is prepared, he is expected to share it with party leaders, trade unions and professional bodies for their opinions.
The ministry has appointed at least nine subcommittees on various subjects such as investment, international trade and economic services that are core to a developing economy.
Professional bodies, the business community and trade unions agitated early this year against the proposed ETCA agreement with India, claiming that, without a solid national trade policy in place, negotiating trade agreements and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with foreign countries would put the economy in a difficult mode.
Meanwhile, India’s Minister of State for Commerce, Nirmala Sithraman is scheduled to visit Colombo this week, following an invitation extended by Minister Samarawickrama when he visited India last month.
“The visit is about common bilateral trade relations between the two countries and not necessarily focused on ETCA. The two parties are expected to share their thoughts on the outline of the agreement which was discussed recently,” Ms Wijewardena said.
Earlier this month, an Indian delegation led by the Joint Secretary of India’s Commerce Ministry Bhupinde Singh Bhalla, held preliminary talks on ETCA, where the two parties shared the outline framework of the agreement and agreed to develop from there.