Sri Lanka, highest-ranked MIC in Hinrich Foundation’s Sustainable Trade Index

Sri Lanka has outperformed in the latest Hinrich Foundation Sustainable Trade Index, ranking seventh overall, emerging as the highest-placed of the middle-income and emerging markets, above richer countries such as China (8th), Malaysia (12th), Thailand (13th) and Brunei (15th).

The index measures the capacity of 20 economies—19 in Asia along with the Us—to participate in the international trading system in a manner that supports the long-term domestic and global goals of economic growth, environmental protection and strengthened social capital.

The 2018 Hinrich Foundation Sustainable Trade Index, prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit, noted that Sri Lanka’s focus on sustainable development—in particular to attracting and absorbing foreign direct investment (FDI) in a manner beneficial to workers and the environment—was one of the key reasons for Sri Lanka’s enhanced performance in the index. The authors of the report emphasised that if Sri Lanka continues to balance industrialisation with “impressive” social and environmental protections, while growing to reach high-income status, Sri Lanka might be considered as a developmental model for other small emerging economies in the future.

World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Idah Pswarayiriddihough, who was an interviewee in the report, highlighted that with the implementation of the Vision 2025 master plan, Sri Lanka has been making progress in terms of reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers as well as facilitating trade.