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| Sunday, 15 May 2005 |
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Agreement to enhance Lanka's exports to Pakistan by Don Asoka Wijewardena Sri Lanka was witnessing another important occasion in bilateral relations as Sri Lanka and Pakistan signed the much-sought-after bilateral agreement on May 13 which would enhance Sri Lanka's exports to Pakistan, said Trade, Commerce and Conumer Affairs Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle at a media conference held in Colombo. He said that any Sri Lankan tea exporter, from now onwards, would be able to export 10,000 metric tonnes of tea to Pakistan duty free annually as Sri Lanka had been exporting ony 4,000 mt of tea to Pakistan until now. Under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the ninth Session of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Joint Economic Commission was held on thursday at the Hotel Continental. On Friday the Bilateral Free Trade Agreement was signed by Minister of Commerce of the Government of Pakistan Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister for Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. Minister Fernandopulle said that the two-way trade which reached 148 million US dollars last year had been constantly increasing and it had reflected the untapped potential for further expansion and diversification of trade between the two countries. He also said that the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which would be operationalised shortly would open a better Pakistan market for a host of Sri Lankan exports such as tea, betel leaves, coconut products, natural rubber, ceramicware and ceramic tiles, jewellery, apparel and a number of other non-tradional products and added that Pakistan would be able to enjoy preferential access for an array of products such as rice, potatoes and fruits in the Sri Lankan market. According to Minister Fernandopulle, these products will be able to enter each other's market on preferential terms, immediately after the FTA comes into force. Pakistan's Trade Minister Humayun Aktar Khan said that this was a historic occasion as the bilateral Free Trade Agreement was signed between Sri Lanka and Pakistan to strenghten bilateral trade and commercial relations expressed during the previous Joint Economic Commission held in Islamabad in May 2001. He said that the bilateral Free Trade Agreement would further enhance the regional free trade initiative of SAARC as Pakistan and Sri Lanka had common positions in all the regional initiatives under the umbrella of SAARC. Minister Khan also said that the FTA was only a first step towards economic and regional integration and both countries would have to watch the process carefully and strenghten the institutional framework provided in the agreement. He said that "a joint committee" at ministerial level would come into operation within six months to oversee the implementation of the agreement and resolve any issues which might crop up. Referring to some important aspects of the agreement,Minister Khan said that an initiative had been taken to establish a working group on customs-related issues including harmonisation of tariff headings. The working group would also meet soon to institute measures to
facilitate bilateral trade and remove irritants relating to any possible
valuation and assessment disputes. Close co-operation of customs authorities
of both sides was extremely important to give a fillip to bilateral trade,
he said. |
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