Sri Lanka and Singapore signed a free trade agreement yesterday during the visit of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Colombo.
A release from the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade state that this is a landmark agreement for Sri Lanka and is the first FTA in over a decade.
‘It is also the first comprehensive FTA in our history and it signals to the world that the country is moving to a new era in international trade and investment’ the release said. This is also the first bilateral trade agreement that Sri Lanka has forged in over 10 years. It is also the first comprehensive agreement for Sri Lanka, which means it’s the first agreement that goes beyond goods, and includes services, investment, economic cooperation, etc.
‘To have done our first comprehensive agreement with Singapore, a country regarded as being one of the most open and liberalized economies and having high-quality institutions is an especially important milestone for Sri Lanka,’ the release added.
The FTA signals the commitment of the government to usher in an era of openness for Sri Lanka, and become a formidable economic Hub in the Indian Ocean. This agreement is an important part of the new ‘National Trade Policy’ launched last year, and is a linchpin in the ongoing trade policy reforms. The Singapore-Sri Lanka FTA is part of a broader strategy of looking East to renew our trade relationships.
This FTA is also Sri Lanka’s first agreement with a South East Asian country and is expected as a first step towards closer integration with ASEAN, and potentially be part of the RCEP Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in the future.
Meanwhile Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in a news release said that with the deal inked, Singapore and Sri Lanka companies will gain greater access to each other’s markets across many sectors.
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