Sri Lanka is looking to increase trade with China and South Korea through a regional trade pact. The Asia Pacific Trade Agreement or APTA, is a window into the massive Chinese and Korean markets as it is the only trade agreement of Sri Lanka with these two countries, said Commerce Department Director-General Gomi Senadheera when he addressed a seminar on Free Trade Agreements organized by the Spices and Allied Products Producers’ and Traders’ Association of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo on Monday. He noted that APTA’s fourth round of tariff negotiations could benefit Sri Lanka which is expected to be concluded shortly.
Mr Senadheera disclosed that if negotiations concluded under the same modalities major countries like India, China and Korea will provide at least 40 % of the number of tariff lines of each member, an average tariff concession of at least 40 % and special concessions to Least Developing Countries (LDCs) and Sri Lanka. China has already expressed interest in expanding trade with Sri Lanka, he revealed. It will cover at lease 20% of bilateral trade.
However he noted that the country has entered into a South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA ) and a South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and these agreements will help in promoting trade with India.
Therefore Sri Lanka should mainly focuss its attention on China and Korea rather than India under APTA, he said. China is already providing duty cuts for about 1,700 items. and Korea 1,367 items. “China gives a 27 % margin of preference, on average, for around 1700 items at 8 digit customs classification level, to Sri Lanka.
This covers around 50 % of Sri Lanka’s total exports into China,” he said. With APTA trade talks, the coverage of Chinese concessions to Sri Lanka will increase to around 3,000 items, he added. But so far, exports into China and the use of the APTA agreement itself, have been slow. Whatever little exports heading into China from Sri Lanka, are taking the conventional route, paying full duties, instead of the APTA route with APTA duty cuts, he sid.
The current Sri Lankan exports into China is mainly made up of items like coir fibre, coir products natural rubber and rubber products and tea. Mr. Senadheera said some of these products are already eligible for duty cuts under the APTA. The products exported to APTA countries include coir products, natural rubber, tea, apparel, rubber products, fish products, activated carbon, floor tiles, porcelainware and jewellery. |
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