Sri Lanka
At the conclusion of the 10th session of Pakistan-Sri Lanka Joint Economic Commission on Tuesday the two countries have agreed hold Free Trade Agreement (FTA) review meeting and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations in August 2011 in Colombo.
’Moving forward’ on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Sri Lanka and Pakistan which also goes beyond only trade in goods outlined in the existing bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), into services and investment promotion, will boost trade between both countries, according to Seema Ilahi Baloch, High Commissioner for Pakistan in Sri Lanka.
A spokesman for the anti-CEPA group, Managing Director Multichemi Group Samantha Kumarasinghe said that CEPA is bound to cause serious harm to Sri Lanka. According to him the Indian authorities have consulted around 1000 Indian economists on CEPA. But in Sri Lanka’s case it was the opposite, he alleged.
Given the strong economic, political and cultural ties shared by the two countries an FTA to further bolster bilateral trade had been a topic during a meeting between Japanese Ambassador Kunio Takahashi and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen.
The Sri Lankan government has broken an impasse over the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which has been dragging for several years, and decided to renegotiate some sections of the proposed agreement with India.
Summarises basic features of a regional services trade agreement with specific reference to India and Sri Lanka
The Indian Government and the Sri Lankan Government will renew the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Ministry is planning to include the import of yarn in the FTA.
The balance of trade between Sri Lanka and India continues to be highly in favour of that country since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations, Sri Lanka’s Parliament was told today.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) at the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Business Forum 2010 yesterday.
Sri Lanka’s request for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan came as a surprise, a Japanese official speaking on the grounds of anonymity told The Sunday Leader.
"It is an honour to be the Chief Guest at the AGM of the Import Section of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. I thought that it will be appropriate to share some of my views of the import sector of Sri Lanka so as to identify its current role in the Sri Lankan economy and its role in the future.
Director General Commerce Department Gomi Senadhira let the cat out of the bag when he told a seminar on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last Friday, that it was an agreement which was originally due to have had been signed in 2008 when Indian Premier Manmohan Singh visited the island for the SAARC summit, based on contents already agreed upon.
The Government has no intention to hide the facts in the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka and all the details will be made public before agreement is signed, a senior official said.
Trade between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will grow due to the vast opportunities in both countries to expand business, said High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mahbub Uz Zamman.
A dispute initiated by Deutsche Bank against the government of Sri Lanka will be a test case on whether derivatives contracts should be considered ’investments’ under bilateral investment treaties
Sri Lanka could lose more opportunities to access India’s huge market owing to delays in striking a new economic partnership deal with her neighbour, the Indian envoy in Colombo has warned.
Ten years after the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka which came into full existence in March 1, 2000, most heads of Sri Lankan chambers of commerce and industries say that its performance is not up to expectation even after a decade.
Sri Lanka’s trade benefits with the world’s biggest consumer market are due to expire Aug. 15. The EU had asked Sri Lanka to give a written commitment by July 1 pledging to improve human rights before it would consider renewing them.
A joint India-Lanka people’s statement for cultivating peace and not free trade agreements
Concerns over the proposed India-Sri Lanka Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva