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by Don Asoka Wijewardena

Sri Lanka will be able to export 10,000 m.t. of tea to Pakistan once again, under the Bilateral Trade Agreement between Sri Lanka and Pakistan recently. At present Sri Lanka exports only 4,000 metric tonnes to Pakistan with 200 other export products, said Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle after signing the Agreement with his counterpart Pakistani Trade Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan at Ceylon Continental Hotel.

Minister Fernandopulle said the FTA had provided the entrepreneurs from Pakistan and Sri Lanka with preferential terms and conditions vis-a-vis the third country suppliers and it was up to the business communities of both the countries to make the maximum out of the FTA for their mutual benefits. He urged business communities to create a well diversified trade between the two countries rather than flocking around a few product categories while trying to make quick money.

He also noted that the FTA would inject an enhanced degree of dynamism into the current pattern of the commercial relations by paving the way for more trading opportunities between the two economies and emphasised that the trade-led investments between the two countries would reach new heights within a very short period as enhanced investment flows would definitely result in creating more job opportunities for Sri Lankans.

Pakistan Trade Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said that the Bilateral Free Trade Agreement was signed to strengthen bilateral trade and commercial relations and it was only due to the personal interest expressed at the highest political level during Pakistani Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka.

He also said that when Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga visited Pakistan a diplomatic note confirming the various annexes to the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries was discussed.

A protocol giving a roadmap to future endeavours was also signed. "We intend to take the process of economic and commercial relations to new heights by negotiating trade in services and initiatives on investments," Pakistan Minister emphasised.

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