Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has urged that the SAARC member countries take action to improve intra-trade in the region without compromising security concerns.
The Minister made these remark at an event to commemorate the 35th SAARC Charter Day at the Taj Samudra Hotel recently, organised by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
According to a statement released from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Minister in his speech underlined the need to address the current unsatisfactory intra-trade figures that currently stand below 6% in the South Asia region that hosts over 20% of the global population.
He compared ASEAN as an example for SAARC to replicate and that the ASEAN region has over 22% intra trade in a region of less than 9% of the world’s population.
While recognizing the existing strong policy framework in the SAARC region for trade expansion, Minister Gunawardena called for flexibility in trade negotiations to support the smaller economies in the region, including Sri Lanka.
He also emphasized the need to protect the environment, which is a challenging issue for the region faced with unprecedented natural disasters and erratic weather patterns, the statement said.
The Charter-Day event was attended by the Colombo based SAARC diplomatic missions and the business community.
????????????????????????????????????[/caption]
A Thai woman walking topless in Arugam Bay town has been arrested by the Police.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Commodore (retired) M.B.N.A. Premaratne of the Sri Lanka Navy, as the new Commissioner General of Excise.
Leave Comments