Indo, Lanka JTF gathers speed

As 2012 numbers started to show trade favouring Sri Lanka, in another latest sign of India-Sri Lanka trade acceleration, both countries are rejoining to move the Joint Task Force forward with greater speed.

Private sectors at both ends are being positioned to take the lead. “2012 was a milestone year in our bilateral trade history, giving birth to the Joint Task Force. The uptrend has already started, with our exports to India rising by 12% in 2012,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen yesterday during a meeting with the visiting Indian trade delegation led by Dr. Daggubati Purandeswari, Indian Minister of State of Commerce, Industry and Textiles.

The well-connected Dr. Purandeswari joined politics in 2004 and is the daughter of N.T. Rama Rao, the three times former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (who was also the founder of the Telugu Desam Party).

The only and immediate official rank above Dr. Purandeswari is that of Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles.

 Accompanying Dr. Purandeswari were J.S. Deepak (Additional Secretary of Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Vandana Yadev (Director, Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry), P. Kumaran (Acting Indian High Commissioner in Colombo), and M. Manish (Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Indian High Commission in Colombo).

Accompanying Minister Bathiudeen were Anura Siriwardene (Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Commerce), Asoka Godawita (Deputy Director of Commerce), and D.D. Premaratne (Director, Department of Commerce).



“We have been looking forward for this meeting for a long time,” Dr Purandeswari said, addressing Minister Bathiudeen. “Our bilateral trade cooperation could be taken forward not only in terms of state to state level, but on public private partnership levels as well. Future trade and investment initiatives we envisage can take India’s trade and investments in Sri Lanka to new levels.

After the Indo-Lanka CEOs Forum and JTF process, our Commerce Secretary is now aware of the issues faced by exporters of Sri Lanka and we think we should iron out these issues for faster JTF and also bilateral trade goal of $ 10 b by 2015.”

The first Sri Lanka-India CEOs Forum was held in August 2012 and was organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), with the participation of a large number of CEOs from both Sri Lanka and India.

“We are happy to note that you have realised our concerns. We are also of the belief that we need to move beyond ‘state-to-state only trade’ to more and more private sector involvement in developing trade,” Minister Bathiudeen. “Public-private sector partnerships are also very important towards moving $ 10 b trade by 2015.”

Both Ministers also stressed the need for more frequent trade meetings between Commerce Ministry officials from both sides and also discussed other recent developments in bilateral trade and commerce, among others.

India, which ranked as the 16th largest export destination of Sri Lanka in 2000, emerged as the fourth largest buyer of Lankan exports in 2011, absorbing 5.1% of Sri Lanka’s total exports to the world, after the USA, the UK, and Italy, spurred by the implementation of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) in 2000.

According to the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka, total bilateral trade between the two countries in 2012 was $ 4.08 b. In 2012, bilateral trade numbers have shown a trend favourable to Sri Lanka with exports to India increasing to $ 566.37 m in 2012 from $ 521.61 m (2011), while Indian exports to Sri Lanka registered a decrease to $ 3.51 b in 2012 from $ 4.35 b in 2011.