The Cabinet has approved a review of the country’s free trade agreements with India, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand, as part of a new policy framework aimed at securing greater economic gains from every trade pact.
The framework was submitted by Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath and sets a baseline to which all future trade agreements must strictly adhere.
The Foreign Ministry has indicated that legal clauses in existing deals will be amended to deliver stronger economic returns.
The renegotiations will cover the 2005 agreement with Pakistan, the widely debated 2018 accord with Singapore and the recently finalised pact with Thailand, alongside the existing arrangement with India.
To guide the effort, the government will appoint two joint public and private sector committees.
One will represent trade associations, and the other will be a dedicated Trade Policy Advisory Committee.
Both are intended to protect domestic small and medium enterprises while widening international market access for Sri Lankan products.
The Cabinet has also sanctioned fresh negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with the aim of deepening economic ties in West Asia.
The government further plans to make fuller use of regional arrangements such as the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), and to take advantage of the United Kingdom’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).