Sri Lanka-bangladesh to resume trade talks aiming FTA

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh hope to hold the sixth session of the Joint Economic Commission, aiming at the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

“The fifth session of the Joint Economic Commission between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was held in Colombo in 2016. Therefore, time has come for the sixth trade session between both countries,” Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen told Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah during a recent meeting.

The Bangladesh Joint Committee for Economic and Technical Co-operation (SL-BJCETC) at ministerial level was last held in Colombo, on November 9, 2016.

“...as Development Strategies and International Trade

Minister Malik Samarawickrama has already announced, the FTA could be signed once the joint feasibility study is finalised,” Bathiudeen added.

The proposed bilateral FTA aims at boosting total trade to higher levels beyond the current US $ 150 million levels.

According to the Commerce Department, bilateral trade between both countries in 2018 (January-november) totalled US $ 156.15 million in comparison to US $ 166 million for all 12 months of 2017.

The balance of trade has been in favour of Sri Lanka over the years.

Exports to Bangladesh were at US $ 124 million (2018 Januarynovember) growing by 34 percent in the five years since 2014.

Sri Lanka’s main exports to Bangladesh in 2018 were plastics, cotton, knitted fabrics, soaps and fuel oil.