Sri Lanka to Negotiate and Review FTAs for Maximum Benefit

COLOMBO (News 1st); Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Deputy Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development, has reiterated the government's support for free trade agreements (FTAs) while emphasizing the need for strategic reviews and negotiations to maximize their benefits.

"The government's position is in favor of free trade agreements," stated Deputy Minister Abeysinghe. "However, our past experiences with FTAs have not been entirely positive. This is not due to the agreements themselves but rather the lack of an industrialization strategy and product development strategy to fully leverage these agreements."

Addressing concerns about the Singapore agreement, Abeysinghe noted that Singapore is primarily a trading nation rather than a producing country, raising issues about identifying the country of origin for products. He emphasized the need for time to address these concerns adequately.

Regarding the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, Abeysinghe highlighted that initial concerns from the 2018 proposal still need to be negotiated with the Indian government. He shared a personal experience from his time working in India, where stringent restrictions required proof that his skills were not available locally and a salary threshold of $25,000 to obtain work permission.

"The ETCA agreement has not yet been finalized, and negotiations will commence soon," Abeysinghe explained. "We are not against free trade agreements, but we will negotiate and review the ones that have been signed. This is a government policy."