ETCA talks next month, free trade deals with China, Singapore too

Negotiations between Sri Lankan and Indian officials to arrive at a draft Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) will be held on August 9 and 10, a senior Minister said.

The venue for the talks is yet to be decided. “We have made some progress and are hoping to start negotiations around August 9 and 10 at officials’ level,” Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said.

Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation is due between August 2 and 4 to reopen stalled talks on the China-Lanka Free Trade Agreement. “The negotiations had stopped for a couple of years, but we are now starting them again,” the Minister said. “We want to be transparent from the beginning about the process.”

To deflect criticism that the Government is opaque in its dealings on ETCA, the team representing Sri Lanka at the talks will include a nominee of the private sector. This core group will also negotiate with Singapore and China with a view to drafting FTAs with those countries.

The team comprises Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and a Government adviser; Sonali Wijeratne, Director General of Commerce; Arittha Wikramanayake, Precedent Partner of the law firm Nithya Partners; K. J. Weerasinghe, a former DG of Commerce; representatives of the Ministry of Finance and of the Customs Department; and a representative jointly identified by professional groups and trade chambers.

There had been continuous discus- sions over the past seven months with trade chambers, officials of other ministries and professional organisations to ensure transparency, Mr. Samarawickrama said. There have also been talks “on and off ” with the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), one of the most strident opponents of ETCA.

Minister Samarawickrama said he had invited political parties represented in Parliament for discussions on ETCA but received no response.