COLOMBO: Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said the Inter-Sessional meetings of the 12th United States- Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to complete the work-plan under US-Sri Lanka Joint Action Plan finalised on April 28 in Washington DC will yield concrete outcomes and give Sri Lanka’s exports increased access to the US market.
“This will also enable us to leverage the trade-investment nexus to attract much needed FDI flows. The three year average of USA FDI into Sri Lanka stood at US$60m per annum.This is still at a very low base relative to the potential and we are keen to facilitate investment”.
“For the year to date 2016, our exports to the USA continue to perform well with a 2% year on year growth. However we need to urgently accelerate this growth by better market access.”
Sri Lanka exported US$1.27 billion of apparel, $97m of rubber tyres, $23m of gloves, $22m of chilled fish, and $19m of gems during the period January to July 2016,” he said. “We also appreciate the fact that USAID is ramping up its operations in Sri Lanka. Our initial discussions with the Mission Director, who assumed duties very recently is most encouraging. The Millennium Challenge Corporation based in Washington is actively working with us on exploring the possibility of Sri Lanka becoming a ‘Compact’ country, which will open up significant amounts of grant financing. “
The Minister also added that the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for International Development is also working with Sri Lanka on a number of measures to improve the investment climate and strengthen trade facilitation.
