ETCA and FTA Take off the Ground in August 2016

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema in the recent past has undertaken foreign trips to invite foreign investors to Srilanka. Delayed ECTA negotiations scheduled to be held between August 9 and 10 with India, while negotiations on the China-Srilanka.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which had been stopped a couple of years will start again. The team representing Srilanka at the WTCA agreement will include a nominee from the private sector. We want to be transparent in the process in both ETCA and FTA. Expert teams have appointed for the negotiation.

We have a very small market of 20 million in Srilanka. If we are to improve the living standard s of our people, we have to be far more competitive in our production and our manufacturing base and then have a market we can export to, concluded Minister Malik Samarawickrema.