Third Round of Sri Lanka – Thailand FTA negotiations scheduled to commence today

By PRIYAN DE SILVA

The Presidential Media Division (PMD) has announced that the third round of negotiations between Sri Lanka and Thailand on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be held today and tomorrow, in Colombo, with the participation of 26 official delegates from Thailand, headed by Ms. Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of the Department of Trade Negotiations.

 Seven theme areas – trade in goods, trade in services, investments, rules of origin, custom cooperation, trade facilitation, and economic cooperation will be the focus of the negotiations.

The negotiations will be aimed at enhancing Sri Lanka’s exports to Thailand, as in 2021, Sri Lanka imported USD 355million worth of goods from Thailand but only exported USD 59 million to Thailand. At present, Sri Lankan exports precious stones and black tea among other goods and would be hopeful that new opportunities are created through this round of negotiations.