"Trade barriers to Sri Lankan products should be removed"

Colombo, May 22: Sri Lanka's imports of non-tariff barriers must be eliminated and the proposed financial and technical cooperation between the two countries should be implemented in the stages, said a senior official of the Sri Lanka National Chamber Exporters (NCE). President of NCE of Sri Lanka Ramal G. Jasinghe said Sri Lanka was open for joint ventures with Indian companies. The two countries signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2000.

"Lot of non-trade barriers are being imposed on Sri Lankan goods reaching the Indian shores. These barriers could be in the form of various charges, procedures," Jasinghe told visiting Indian journalists. According to him, the procedures differ from port to port in India and the clearance of goods takes time affecting business. The private sector chamber official also said if only the non-trade barriers were removed then bilateral trade between the two nations would increase further.

He said Sri Lankan companies are open for joint ventures with Indian companies investing in the island nation. Globally India is the largest trading partner of Sri Lanka. The trade between the two nations grew after the signing of the FTA. According to Jasinghe, the proposed ETCA between India and Sri Lanka should not be implemented all in one go. He also said that all Sri Lankans should be confident of the deal and go about globalization.There are four rounds of talks on ETCA between India and Sri Lanka. By the end of 2017, India wants to finalize this agreement.