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President pushes for free trade agreements with India and China by September this year
View(s):By Damith Wickramasekara
On the instructions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka has begun discussions with India and China on entering into separate Free Trade Agreements (FTA), a senior official said.
The President has instructed that talks on the proposed FTAs be concluded by June, with the aim of signing the agreements by September.
In addition, talks on entering into FTAs will also be held with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Sri Lankan Government has already reached out to the Indian Government through the Indian High Commission, requesting for dates to begin talks on the new FTA by the end of the month, according to K.J. Weerasinghe, Chief Negotiator at the International Trade Office of the Presidential Secretariat. He said Sri Lanka hoped to conclude talks on the FTAs with India and China early, and added that with the assistance of the Foreign Ministry, they have already reached out to the envoys of the two countries on proceeding with the talks.
Sri Lanka’s main focus in the FTA with India will be on having the quota on apparel exports to India removed.
The government has provided India with a list of 460 export goods for duty concessions. They include apparel, tea, ceramic items, tiles, coconut oil, and furniture.
The Indian Government will provide Sri Lanka with its own list of goods that it wants duties to be removed in return when talks formally begin.
Sri Lanka imports goods worth USD 4.3 billion annually from India while its exports to India total around USD 900 million.
Meanwhile, the government has also provided a list of 400 goods to China. It hopes these will be given duty concessions under the proposed FTA.
China, in turn, has asked for duty concessions on some of its exports, mainly food items including fruits, and apparel.
Sri Lanka imports USD 4.7 billion worth of goods annually from China while its exports to that country total around USD 500 million.
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