FTA to help boost Pak-Lanka trade ties

SIALKOT/DASKA - High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Air Chief Marshal (r) Jayalath Weerakkody
has said that it was the high time for both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to ensure easy excess to international trade
markets.
He hailed Pak-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) saying that it was an excellent tool for expansion of
bilateral trade between both the countries. Promotion of trade depends on better coordination, interaction and
understanding among business communities of the countries.
Presiding over a seminar on Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement organised by the Sri Lankan High
Commission at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in active collaboration with Trade
Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) on Saturday, he said there was a vast scope for enhancing trade
between both the countries in the presence of FTA while both the countries could further strengthen their
multi-faceted and multi-sectoral cooperation in education, culture, commerce and trade, science and technology,
tourism and other fields.
Their visit to Sri Lanka, he said would provide opportunities of direct interaction and one-to-one meeting with
their counterparts.
Pakistani businessmen were able to manufacture products in Sri Lanka, which have got high demands in
Pakistani market he said. He further said this would enable the manufacturers to source raw material into Sri
Lanka from Pakistan on duty free basis and export manufactured products to Pakistan on duty free concession
offered under the agreement.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are lucrative investment locations for each others exporters, as on the one hand,
Pakistan is a gateway to resource rich Central Asian States, while on the other hand, Sri Lanka enjoys duty free
access to huge European and Indian markets, he added.
He, however, observed that everything was fine between Pakistan and Sri Lanka except for trade.
The cumulative volume of trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was 343 million US $, which was heavily in
favour of Pakistan. Pakistan was exporting goods worth US$ 263 million and importing goods worth US$ 71
million from Sri Lanka.
Addressing the seminar, SCCI Acting President Mir Farooq Meyer said the business community of Pakistan
and Sri Lanka should keep on exploring opportunities of mutual interest. He stated that Sri Lanka was a true
friend of Pakistan, as it always stood with us in difficult times. He maintained that Sri Lanka was the first country,
which would have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan. However, the results were not up to the mark, as
bilateral trade was limited to few items; it was important that the businessmen of both the countries take full
advantage of this FTA.
SCCI Chief suggested active engagements of Sri Lankan and Pakistani Chambers of Commerce, which could
act as resource base for exchanging information. Exchange of trade delegations and holding of joint trade
exhibitions would also help in promoting bilateral trade, he observed. SCCI Chief Mir Farooq Meyer believed
that Sri Lankan markets had enormous demand for the items including sports goods, surgical instruments,
leather products, gloves of all sorts, textile items, sports wear, martial arts uniforms, musical instruments, kitchen
ware, hollow ware, knives, cutlery items and military uniform badges produced in Sialkot.
VS Sidath Kumar, Counsel General Sri Lankan High Commission gave a detailed briefing on Pak-Sri Lanka
FTA, urging the Sialkot business community to divert their business activities to Sri Lanka. He said Sialkot
exporters had a great potential to explore and capture the Sri Lankan trade markets by exporting their best
quality traditional and non-traditional export items.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner visited several leading industrial units in Sialkot, amid tight security.
VS Sidath Kumar, SCCI Acting President Mir Farooq Meyer, Majid Aziz, former President of Karachi Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, Mir Nasir Abbas, Director General Asia & Europe TDAP were also present on the
occasion.