- 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-May-2018
The President of Sri Lanka expressed that his government will safeguard the local industrialists. In several occasions, he has mentioned that the government does not want to go for trade agreements that are deleterious to the country’s economy. However, in January this year, the president was seated in the high chair clapping when the bilateral trade agreement with Singapore is signed, which liberalized the country’s service sector effectively for the first time.
14-May-2018
Daily Mirror
In response to concerns raised by some professional associations last week concerning the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA), the Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry in a detailed response said the movement of natural persons from Singapore has not been opened except for intra-corporate transferees in senior management and business visitors linked to investments.
11-May-2018
Daily Mirror
In Sri Lanka, the top professional bodies representing engineers, architects, town planners and quantity surveyors and other related professions this week charged that the government has rushed into signing the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) without having proper legal frameworks in place to ensure job security of local professionals and the possible entry of under-qualified overseas professionals.
9-May-2018
Daily Mirror
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with Singapore is detrimental to the country because it would allow the flowing in of cheap labour from countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the joint opposition said today.
7-May-2018
Economic Next
Sri Lanka and Thailand will begin talks on setting broad parameters for a free trade deal from May 2018, officials said.
28-Mar-2018
Bloomberg
Sri Lanka will “redouble” efforts to strike a free trade deal with China and conclude and expanded trade pact with India as part of the island nation’s strategy of becoming an Indian Ocean hub for investors and multinationals, the country’s top diplomat says.
21-Feb-2018
Mirror Citizen
Professionals’ National Front (PNF), a collective of professional organizations, yesterday requested President Maithripala Sirisena to suspend talks on the Indo-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) scheduled for February 21 in New Delhi.
12-Feb-2018
Modern Diplomacy
Sri Lanka wants a longer-time period to negotiate a free trade agreement with China as it is concerned about the economic impact of a rushed deal on their small country, the Sri Lankan ambassador said.
9-Feb-2018
Mirror Business
The recently signed Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement has been able to create a lot of enthusiasm among New Zealand companies operating in Singapore.
5-Feb-2018
Reuters
Sri Lanka wants a longer-time period to negotiate a free trade agreement with China as it is concerned about the economic impact of a rushed deal on their small country, the Sri Lankan ambassador said on Sunday.
