Sri Lanka eyes FTA talks with Malaysia and Vietnam

• President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructs officials to prepare for negotiations with Malaysia and Vietnam for possible FTA
• Negotiations on Sri Lanka-Thailand FTA set to conclude in December, with the agreement expected to be signed in March
• Previous talks with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam for trade deals interrupted after a change in government in late 2019
• FTA negotiations will prioritise extensive consultations with industries and stakeholders, following President’s directive to avoid rushing

By Nishel Fernando 

Sri Lanka is eyeing to ink free trade agreements (FTA) with two more ASEAN members, Malaysia and Vietnam, in line with the country’s plans to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed keenness to ink FTAs with Malaysia and Vietnam and has instructed public officials to lay the ground for negotiations for possible FTAs with the two ASEAN members, Sri Lanka’s International Trade Office Chief Negotiator K.J. Weerasinghe said.
Negotiations on Sri Lanka – Thailand Free Trade Agreement (SLTFTA) are on track to be concluded in December this year.

After Sri Lanka signed its first comprehensive FTA with Singapore in 2018, Malaysia expressed its strong interest in moving forward with an FTA with Sri Lanka. 
Similarly, potential FTAs with other key ASEAN members such as Indonesia, and Vietnam were also considered at that time in line with the country ambition to join the World’s largest trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). However, negotiations came into an abrupt halt following the change of government in late 2019.

Addressing a seminar organised by the National Chamber of Exporters in Colombo last week, Weerasinghe revealed that Sri Lanka-Thailand FTA negotiations on the track to be concluded in December this year.
However, the FTA agreement would only be signed in March next year due to the lengthy legislative approval process in Thailand.  

The fifth round of negotiations on the proposed FTA with a Thai delegation was held in Colombo from June 26 to 28.The next round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in Thailand between August 21-23.
In a bid attract Thai investments, Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka has submitted a concept paper to setup an exclusive investment zone for Thai investments, mainly focusing on high-tech and non-traditional export industries.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka expects to commence negotiations with Indonesia on the proposed preferential trade agreement (PTA) following Cabinet approval three weeks ago. 
Weerasinghe highlighted that the proposed PTA would be the first step towards an FTA with Indonesia, which is the largest economy in South-East Asia.

With RCEP opening up for new members from July 1 this year, Sri Lanka has formally submitted the Letter of Intent to the ASEAN Secretariat on June 28 this year to join the RCEP, which has been circulated among members.
While describing Sri Lanka’s intention to join RCEP as ambitious, Weerasinghe noted that securing the support of RCEP founding members is critical to achieve this target.

Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are the 15 founding members of the RCEP. 
“We are meeting all the ambassadors of RCEP countries seeking their support for our membership,” he added.
Sri Lanka has already sought the support of number of countries in this regard including Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Japan.

In 2022, Sri Lanka’s exports RCEP member countries stood at US$ 1.22 billion while imports were at US$ 6.91 billion.
Meanwhile, Weerasinghe assured that the FTA negotiations wouldn’t be rushed to meet deadlines and would follow extensive and orderly consultations with industries and other stakeholders.  In particular, he said President Wickremesinghe has issued firm instructions not to rush the negotiations as with Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA.