COLOMBO: “Sri Lanka’s exports have been on a steady decline over the last decade and the country’s exports need to be increased to enhance government revenue, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Michael Delaney said.
“The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) process has been the focal point of a sustained and multi-faceted high-level engagement between the United States and Sri Lanka, centring especially on impediments to greater bilateral trade and investment flows, Delaney told the media at the inaugural session of the TIFA talks, at the Colombo Hilton last week
He said that one of the key objectives for the TIFA Joint Council is to reduce non-tariff trade barriers and improve the regulatory regimes for foreign investors and potential international partners to find success in Sri Lanka, besides easing exports to the US.
“This agreement would help to foster greater opportunities to build trade and business relations with US and Sri Lanka businessmen in order to increase exports to the US market, which is a huge market opportunity for Sri Lanka, he explained.
“With approximately $2 billion in project proposals in various stages of the approval process, U.S. companies are looking to bring world-class products and services to Sri Lanka at competitive prices, Delaney said.
“A TIFA goal is to help improve Sri Lanka’s investment climate to attract these American investors, who are looking for transparent bidding processes and the sanctity of contracts driven by rule of law.
“TIFA talks on a five year action plan between Sri Lanka and the US are on, and efforts are also underway to come out with a one year action plan to enhance trade and investments between two countries, Delaney said. Further, it was pointed out that TIFA is also looking at strengthening vocational education locally, targeting youth in the country in order to address the shortcomings and mismatches within the current education system in Sri Lanka. These will be done through the US Aid programme.
Director General, Department of Commerce Sonali Wijeratne said the US is the single largest buyer of Sri Lanka exports, mainly apparel, and with the signing of TIFA, Sri Lankan exports to the US market will increase many fold.
She said that Sri Lanka is hoping to provide Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) for US companies, to enable them to come and invest and set up industries in Sri Lanka.
