FIRST MEETING OF JOINT MINISTERIAL PANEL UNDER INDIA-SRI LANKA
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT HELD
The first meeting
of the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) under the India-Sri Lanka
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was held here today. The Indian delegation
was led by Shri Murasoli Maran, Commerce and Industry Minister,
while the Sri Lankan delegation was led by Mr. Ravi Karunanayake,
Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of Sri Lanka.
In his opening remarks,
the Commerce and Industry Minister of India, Shri Murasoli Maran,
while welcoming the delegates from Sri Lanka, appreciated the
progress made so far in the implementation of the FTA by highlighting
its contribution towards enhancing trade and investment between
the two countries. He also stated that the meeting of the Working
Group on Customs held on 5th June, 2002 and the Commerce
Secretary level talks held on 6th June, 2002 were successful
in resolving some of the impending issues relating to the operational
aspects of the FTA.
In his address, the
Sri Lankan Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, by Mr. Ravi
Karunanayake, thanked the Government of India for hosting the
JMC Meeting and stated that the Meeting assumes much greater significance
in view of the fact that it has been organised on the eve of their
Prime Minister’s visit to India. He, however, expressed concern
over the yawning trade deficit which Sri Lanka has with India
and stated that efforts should be made to bridge this gap. He
also emphasised that still much needs to be done by both the sides
to further enhance bilateral trade and investment flows.
From the Indian side,
various issues including allowing import of all types of Indian
tea for home consumption in Sri Lanka and deeper preferential
margins for export of bulk cement to Sri Lanka were raised. The
Sri Lankan side raised issues regarding opening up of more ports
for export of tea and garments under Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ),
deepening of concessions for export of garments and relaxing Rules
of Origin Criteria among some other issues relating to giving
Sri Lankan products greater access to Indian markets. It was agreed
that these issues will be further examined by the sides and finalised
in the official level meeting in the month of July, 2002 in Colombo.
Both the Ministers
agreed that trade in services has become very important in the
present circumstances and there is need to utilise the core competencies
of both the countries especially in the areas of transshipment,
tourism and professional services to the mutual advantage. It
was agreed that a Working Group can be formed which can examine
in greater details as to how services can be included in the FTA.
The Ministers also
agreed that there is a need for a regular interaction at the official
level as well as at the Ministerial level with a view to sorting
out the implementation and policy issues concerning the Free Trade
Agreement in a spirit of mutual cooperation and goodwill.
