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Sunday, 19 October 2003    
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US govt. official expresses confidence in Lanka's potential

Trade relations between USA and Sri Lanka will be deepened in the future, but no decision has yet been made on how this will be done.

These comments were made by US Deputy Trade Representative Josette Sheeran Shiner when she met journalists during her brief visit to the country for the third round of talks on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

The TIFA is a step towards deepening trade relationships between the two countries. The talks were very successful in further deepening these relations, she said.

Trade between the two countries is presently over two billion US dollars with the trade imbalance heavily in favour of Sri Lanka.

The agreement was signed in July 2002 during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to the USA. (Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to sign a TIFA with USA.)

Shiner said: "I cannot give a time frame as to when an FTA will be signed between the two countries as Sri Lanka's interest has to be conveyed and discussed with all stakeholders back in the USA to make it a win-win situation for both countries. We will have to look at what benefits it will give our country," she added. She met the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and representatives of the private sector, labour unions as well as various other groups. She was also scheduled to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

She said that due to peace and the improved economic situation of Sri Lanka, the country has received the world's attention. "I was impressed with what Sri Lanka has to offer the world. Something good is happening in the island. Tomorrow will be better; believe in it, and work through differences as Sri Lanka has a bright future," Shiner confidently said.

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