Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has preferential and free trade agreements with India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Singapore and Israel. It is currently in the processing of upgrading its agreement with India to a much more comprehensive one.
Sri Lanka is also party to SAFTA, the agreement on a South Asia Free Trade Area, as well as BIMSTEC, which aims to hammer out a regional FTA.
last update: May 2012
Articles
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26-Jun-2011 ’Move forward’ on CEPA, add services, investment : Pakistan HC
’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. -
15-Jun-2011 Sunday Times Strong Lankan campaign against CEPA agreement begins today
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. -
5-Jun-2011 Prospect for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Japan has come under discussion at bilateral level
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. -
13-Feb-2011 Sunday Times Indo-Lanka CEPA deadlock ends
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. -
17-Dec-2010 Demystifying Regional Services Trade Agreements Demystifying regional services trade agreements
Summarises basic features of a regional services trade agreement with specific reference to India and Sri Lanka -
8-Dec-2010 Cotton yarn to come under amended FTA soon
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. -
1-Dec-2010 Parliament: FTA favours India
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. -
29-Nov-2010 FCCISL, FPCCI sign agreement
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. -
5-Sep-2010 Surprised By FTA Request
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. -
30-Aug-2010 Role of Imports in the Sri Lankan Economy
"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. -
29-Aug-2010 Sunday Leader Shrouded in secrecy
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. -
16-Aug-2010 Commerce Dept: No intention to hide facts in CEPA
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. -
15-Aug-2010 Lanka to expand trade with Bangladesh
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. -
23-Jul-2010 LBO Sri Lanka told time running out for new trade deal with India
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. -
3-Jul-2010 Indo – Lanka FTA not up to expectations since a decade
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. -
26-Jun-2010 Canadian Press Sri Lanka rejects EU’s rights conditions for trade benefits, saying they violate sovereignty
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. -
31-May-2010 Daily Mirror DNA wants a CEPA debate
The Democratic National Alliance in Sri Lanka has decided to ask for a parliamentary debate on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to be signed with India and asked the government to disclose the contents of the agreement. -
31-May-2010 The Nation CEPA signing likely to delay
Although Governments of India and Sri Lanka have shown keen interest in expediting their mutual trade pact, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is likely to get delayed after local business leaders have expressed grave concerns over its impact on Sri Lankan economy. -
28-May-2010 Lanka Web Catastrophic Economic Partisan Agreement (CEPA) with India means disaster
The India-Sri Lanka agreement is like the story of two farmers who share a cow by owning two equal halves of the cow. They tied a rope around the belly of the cow. One owned the front part and the other the rear. Farmer who owned the rear got all the economic benefits including milk, calves and even manure while the other paid for it! -
27-May-2010 The Island President says no deal to unfair trade agreements
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday said Sri Lanka would not enter into trade agreements that would have an adverse effect on the country’s economy when he met a group of protestors against the implementation of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with India.
