Govt. to pursue FTAs after fresh review

• Department of Commerce Director General Sonali Wijeratne tipped to be appointed as Chief Negotiator of National Negotiation Team

By Charumini de Silva

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama on Thursday said a joint committee would be appointed to evaluate the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA), noting that on completion of the review process next month, the Government would restart negotiations on ETCA and Thailand and China FTAs.

The Minister also hinted that Department of Commerce Director General Sonali Wijeratne was likely to be appointed as the Chief Negotiator of the National Negotiation Team as former Chief Negotiator K.J. Weerasinghe had stepped down due to personal reasons.

“We have to now appoint a new committee to evaluate all the Preferential Trade Agreements, which will be approved by the Cabinet soon. Thereafter, the heads of the departments will review chapters and if there are amendments to be made they will be taken up at the negotiations of the SLSFTA in April by the joint committee,” he added. In addition, the committee will review the current status of all other FTAs by end of next month to start negotiations from March onwards, he added.

Despite all the negative commentary about SLSFTA, the Minister said not a single specific issue had been raised by any of the parties which were persistently talking about the matter.

When asked if there were any concerns from Singapore on the revisions, Samarawickrama said they had not yet raised any hesitation and were open if there were specific issues.

“There are provisions in the FTA for the revision of its contents with mutual agreement. Every chapter can be reviewed, but so far no specific issues have been brought up,” he reiterated.

Regardless of negative observations about FTAs, the Minister said the reality was that no country in the region had grown their exports and FDIs without forging FTAs.

“All the Asian countries that have dramatically grown their exports are those that forged a range of progressive FTAs. Currently in the works are FTAs with Thailand, India and China. This is the first time that Sri Lanka will be so plugged in to the large and growing market of Asia. While opening up more to Asia, we remain focused on growing more in our traditional markets of the West too,” he stressed.