A labourer carries boxes of dried fish at the main market in Colombo on November 15, 2022. AFP file photo
Colombo: A cash-stripped Sri Lanka is all set to restart trade negotiations with India, China and Thailand as the country paces to rebuild its economy.
As the island nation strives to come out of one of its worst economic crisis, Sri Lanka hopes to sign a string of deals with its neighbours.
KJ Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Chief Negotiator of Free Trade (FTAs), said that officials from Thailand are scheduled to arrive in the country on 9 January (Monday) to begin the third round of talks after negotiations were suspended in 2018.
Sri Lanka is expected to hold talks with India and China- its biggest business partners and accounted for $5 billion in trade in 2021 — in February and March.
Weerasinghe told Reuters, “The focus is on improving economic cooperation and attracting investment, which is crucial for Sri Lanka to emerge for this economic crisis.”
“My main goal is to have all these deals completed by the end of 2023 or early 2024,” he added.
Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of Thailand’s Department of Trade Negotiations said that negotiations were stalled owing to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021, trade talks between Thailand and Sri Lanka amounted to around $460 million, according to data released by the country’s central bank.
With India, Sri Lanka hopes to deepen an existing FTA after talks were halted in 2018. The island nation will try to add services and investments to the agreement which currently focusses on trade in goods.
Weerasinghe said that FTA talks with China were also stalled in 2018 following a disagreement over the pace of liberalising Sri Lanka’s economy.
While both countries have responded positively to holding the said talks, specific dates are yet to be decided.
Sri Lanka’s central bank said that the country saw a financial fall with its economy contracting by 8.7 per cent in 2022. However, the central bank projected a recovery in the second half of 2023.
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