Category: Featured Headlines

The Ports, Shipping and Aviation Ministry has planned to re-construct the Talaimannar Pier to facilitate passenger vessels from Rameswaram, India after 37 years.

The pier was destroyed and had been abandoned to deteriorate during the conflict era in the north. Accordingly, under the instructions of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has been vested with the re-construction of the pier.

The estimated cost of the investment is Rs. 1,800 million. Parallel to the re-construction of the pier, about 10 acres of government-owned land bordering the port will be acquired for port infrastructure development activities.

Under these new developments, a modern passenger terminal and warehouse facilities will be constructed. It has also been decided to call for RFPs for these investments to be carried out under PPP. In the past, a passenger ferry service existed between Talaimannar and Danushukodi.

However, the Dhanuskodi port was completely destroyed due to cyclones. At present, India has completed developments at the Rameswaram Port, and the Indian government has declared clearance to commence a passenger ferry service between Mannar and Rameswaram.

The Minister emphasized that the commencement of the ferry service between Talaimannar and Rameswaram will also facilitate Sri Lankan pilgrims to India by providing low-cost travel facilities.

He also said that these measures will facilitate the exchange of goods between the two countries and will be a commendable opportunity to popularize the products of the people of northern Sri Lanka in India.

The Constitutional Council has not approved the names to fill two vacancies in the National Election Commission and one member to the National Police Commission.

The Constitutional Council convened under the patronage of Speaker of House Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena at the Parliamentary complex.

They were due to approve three names for the independent commissions.

However, the council has not approved the names as planned.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Council is due to convene once again on the 22nd of this month.

New Delhi and Colombo are set to begin technical discussions that could pave the way for a multi-product petroleum pipeline between the two South Asian nations.

According to Indian Media, the project, which was announced during president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India in July, is expected to help Sri Lanka improve its energy security at an affordable cost.

Among other things, the meetings are expected to touch on the physical alignment of the petroleum pipeline.

A proposal, currently under discussion, is for the pipeline to run from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to Jaffna in Northeast Sri Lanka.

However, these proposals are understood to be at a preliminary stage. The aim of the pipeline will be to improve Sri Lanka’s energy security at an affordable cost.

The talks follow the 2022 economic crisis that left the island-nation facing crippling shortages of energy.

Widespread power cuts and fuel shortages fuelled public discontent, which led to the fall of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government, paving the way for Wickremesinghe.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe plans to press ahead with his quest for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment as part of his reconciliation efforts.

India’s The Hindu website quoting officials from the Sri Lankan President’s Office said that the minority Tamil community in Sri Lanka has been demanding the implementation of the 13th Amendment that provides for devolution of power to it.

The 13th Amendment (13A) was brought in after the India-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987. It created 9 provinces as devolved units with a temporary merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The Hindu website quoted Presidential officials who said President Wickremesinghe would deliver a speech in Parliament next week when it is reconvened for its regular session.

The official from the President’s Office said that the President will outline his plan to implement it with all powers that could be granted to provincial councils.

During an all-party meeting last month, Wickremesinghe had said that all powers, except police powers, could be granted to the councils.

However, the main Tamil party — the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — was adamant about holding the stalled provincial council elections at the talks.

Sri Lanka ranks 104th out of 125 developing and least developed countries (LDCs) in its implementation of trade facilitation measures over the last six years, a new study by Verité Research has found.

Alarmingly, 21 out of 35 LDCs have a higher rate of implementation than Sri Lanka, which has progressed only marginally from a rate of 29% in 2017 to 31.5% in June 2023.

Sri Lanka has also claimed to have less capacity than LDCs to implement trade facilitation measures. For example, the country has stated that it cannot implement over 69.3% of the trade facilitation measures without external assistance.

By contrast, developing countries and LDCs on average claim to require external assistance to implement only 21.7% and 40% of trade facilitation measures, respectively. Of the 125 LDCs and developing countries party to the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA), only 10 countries (including Sri Lanka) have requested external assistance to implement over 69% of trade facilitation measures.

The study by Verité Research compared Sri Lanka’s progress in trade facilitation against its regional competitors, other developing countries, and least developed countries. Country-wise information published by the World Trade Organisation in its trade facilitation database was used for this comparison.

The database contains the commitments and notifications on the progress of the implementation of trade facilitation measures, by countries that are signatories to the WTO TFA.

Verité Research proposes three steps Sri Lanka can take to outperform LDCs and catch up with its peers. It also identifies 10 trade facilitation measures Sri Lanka can prioritise and implement without delay.

The first step is for Sri Lanka to take action to implement measures on its own, without delaying implementation by waiting for external assistance. For example, the country claims it cannot promptly publish information on trade procedures, taxes, fees etc., in a non-discriminatory and easily accessible manner, without external assistance.

However, 54% of the LDCs and 80% of the developing countries state that they have already implemented this, or can implement it on their own, without external assistance. This stance taken by Sri Lanka reflects poorly on the country and sends a negative signal to potential traders and investors.

The second step is to provide high-level leadership to overcome the resistance of government agencies to trade facilitation implementation and to influence the allocation of necessary resources to facilitate implementation. The National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) of Sri Lanka, established to spearhead the implementation of trade facilitation measures, is co-chaired by the director general of Sri Lanka Customs and the director general of the Department of Commerce.

This is in stark contrast to countries like Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh, (all three have made better progress than Sri Lanka) where the NTFC is chaired by the deputy prime minister, cabinet secretary and minister of commerce, respectively.

The third step is the publication of the trade facilitation action plan and instituting a mechanism to monitor and report progress. For example, India has published its trade facilitation action plan online and has instituted a robust system to monitor its progress. As a result, the country has not only fully implemented all the trade facilitation measures included in WTO TFA, but is moving beyond WTO TFA by implementing additional measures to further facilitate trade.