ETCA Will be Signed at the End of This Year
Addressing the India Economic Summit organized by the World Economic Forum Premier Wikremesinghe said the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and him decided to conclude the signing Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement by this year. Prime Minister says India and Sri Lanka will sign the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement( ETCA) by the end of this year
The Premier said “We are cognizant that the economic asymmetry between Sri Lanka and India will increase in the future when the latter emerges as a major global player in an increasingly multipolar world. The India-Sri Lanka FTA (Free Trade Agreement) will be further expanded and deepened to go beyond trading goods to cover trade in services, investments and technology cooperation.”
Premier Wickremesinghe pointed out that ETCA offers a strategic economic advantage to Sri Lanka and the fast-growing southern Indian states.
The Prime Minister added the five southern states have a population of 250 million and a combined GDP of $450 billion, with an addition of Sri Lanka $80 billion, the GDP in this sub regional economy will cross $500 billion.
Wickremesinghe also addressing the gathering said along with the free trade agreement between Sri Lanka and Singapore, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Singapore and the ETCA between India and Sri Lanka will establish a tripartite agreement for trade and investments.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who is on a three-day visit to India, said he also floated the idea in a meeting with Modi of getting countries like Indonesia and Malaysia and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation or BIMSTEC countries to be a part of the larger economic partnership.
The Prime Minister also downplayed fears of Sri Lanka’s military ties with China around investments in the one belt one road programme that envisages massive Chinese investments in infrastructure building in Sri Lanka.
He said “There has been a lot of suspicion that there is a military element to it. But that is not there. We have told this very clearly to the Chinese and they have agreed”.
