Sri Lanka-Thai FTA talks on January 9, 10

• Currently, the bilateral trade value stands at US $ 550Mn

By Kelum Bandara

Sri Lanka and Thailand will have the third round of negotiations on the proposed Free Trade Agreement on January 9 and 10, an official said. Currently, the bilateral trade value stands at US $ 550 million, with a balance heavily in favour of Thailand.

Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator on international trade agreements K. J. Weerasinghe told Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka exports around US $ 50 million worth of items, and during the upcoming round of negotiation, would seek ways and means of increasing avenues of investments from Thailand in areas such as agriculture and fisheries sectors.
“We need to attract investments from Thailand to increase production,” he said. He also emphasized the need to increase the basket of export products to Thailand,” he said.