Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed on the inclusion of services and investment in the bilateral free trade agreement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday. This would help companies of the two nations to form joint ventures for exports to other nations, Mr. Sharif said, after participating along with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in an event to mark the signing of several memoranda of understanding at the President’s Secretariat here.
When the FTA came into effect in June 2005, Pakistan’s exports to Sri Lanka were to the tune of $150 million. In 2010-11, they went up to $332 million but dropped to $260 million in 2013-14 and 2014-25, according to Rabiya Javeri Agha, Secretary of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Under the agreement, Sri Lanka’s exports to Pakistan were valued at about $52 million, accounting for around 70 per cent of the country’s total exports to Pakistan, states a document of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Pointing out that the present volume of bilateral trade did not reflect the true potential, Mr. Sharif said: “We have agreed to reinvigorate our efforts to realise the goal of $1 billion at the earliest.”
The MoUs covered a number of areas, including trade promotion and curbing money laundering and terrorism financing. He also reiterated his country’s offer to set up sugar and cement plants in Sri Lanka. Responding to Mr. Sirisena’s request, Mr. Sharif promised him to provide assistance in promoting dairy industry.
Later in the day, Mr. Sharif and his counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe took part in another event at Temple Trees, for the signing of collaborative projects between the corporate sectors of the two countries. He said the proposal of forming a joint investment company was being considered.
