- Negotiations
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
Photo: Sri Lankan engineers’ association
16-Apr-2025
Economic Times
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan revealed that Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong are interested in joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which currently has 15 members after India withdrew due to concerns over its trade imbalance with China.
9-Apr-2025
economynext
Sri Lanka has requested India to expand the quota to export under the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement to 50 million units from the current 8 million after President Donald Trump slapped a 44 percent tax on the island.
17-Feb-2025
economynext
Sri Lanka will expand free trade deal networks strategically and also simplify import duty structure for SMEs to access raw materials, President Anura Disanayake said.
12-Feb-2025
Economy Next
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to promote and secure investments. These agreements aim to create a favorable legal environment for UAE investors in Sri Lanka, encouraging foreign direct investment and strengthening bilateral ties in investment and trade.
6-Feb-2025
Daily Mirror
Sri Lanka and the UAE are nearing a final agreement on a Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments (ARPPI). Recent talks between delegations from both countries have resulted in an agreed-upon text for the proposed agreement.
20-Jan-2025
economynext
Import tax reductions for the people of Sri Lanka under a free trade agreement with Singapore has been halted, suspending the implementation of the deal.
9-Jan-2025
Daily Mirror
The Sri Lankan government will negotiate with the Indian government on how to rectify the concerns raised against the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement while reviewing the Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
20-Dec-2024
Daily News
Thailand Ambassador in Colombo said that the Free Trade Agreement signed between Thailand and Sri Lanka which will be effective from January next year.
6-Aug-2024
The Edge Malaysia
Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved the signing of a trade agreement with Indonesia in March (next year), a government official said on Tuesday, as the island seeks to revive its crisis-hit economy, following a severe foreign exchange crunch in 2022.
19-Jul-2024
Economy Next
Sri Lanka’s private sector trade body is in negotiations with Indonesian officials on a preferential trade agreement, which it hopes would increase exports to the Southeast Asian archipelago.
