Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA talks on well progress

BANGKOK, September 24 (TNA) - The Ministry of Commerce reports that more progress has been seen from the second round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks between Thailand and Sri Lanka, held in Bangkok last week, and both sides have set their next round of the bilateral FTA negotiation in late this year. Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of the ministry's Department of Trade Negotiations, told journalists of the update on September 23, announcing that the 3rd round of the Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA talks has, thus, been set in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, during December 18-20. "As Bangkok and Colombo have agreed on a clear timeframe of trying to wrap up the two countries' FTA talks by 2020 to boost two-way trade to reach about 1.5 billion US dollars then, more concrete progress has been recorded from last week's Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA talks, set during September 19-21, in all aspects, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment and economic cooperation", Auramon stated. Auramon elaborated that seven working groups on trade in goods (WG-TIG), trade in services (WG-TIS), the rule of origin (WG-ROO), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (WG-SPS), trade remedies (WG-TR), investment (WG-Investment) and legal information institute (WG-LII), represented by relevant agencies of both countries, have agreed to lay out draft agreements in their respective areas, showing a significant step towards the conclusion of the Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA talks by 2020 as targeted. For sensitive items of products, Auramon said that both sides have agreed to each propose the request list of their products to the other country at the 3rd round Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA talks in December, while also agreeing that in the investment area, it should cover incentives and facilitations provided to investors, as well as investment protection measures. The senior Thai official revealed that both countries have agreed on working together to boost their national competitiveness as part of their economic cooperation. According to the senior official, Sri Lanka is an emerging market for Thailand in South Asia, with its economic growth reported at about 6 per cent annually, improved investment promotional measures and progressive basic infrastructure development towards its national goal of becoming a regional marine hub connecting with Europe, North America and Africa. Besides, Sri Lanka has abundant natural resources suitable for a production and investment base for many Thai industries, including tourism and the production of processed food, fishery products and gems and jewelry. Based on official statistics, Sri Lanka was Thailand's 4th largest trading partner in South Asia last year and during the first seven months of this year, the bilateral trade stood at about 319.6 million US dollars, a 6.7 per cent year-on-year increase, and Thailand's exports and imports to the South Asian nation were slated at 271.7 million US dollars and 47.9 million US dollars respectively, while Thailand's investment in Sri Lanka totals about 385 million US dollars now. (TNA)