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US - Lanka talks on FTA

by Shirajiv Sirimane

The Sri Lankan government will hold key discussions with a US trade delegation on October 26 in Washington to persue the on going negotiation of the Free Trade Agreement. (FTA)

The Sri Lanka delegation would be led by the Minister of Trade and Commerce Jeyaraj Fernandopule and includes the Chairman/Director General Board of Investment Saliya Wickramasuriya, Director General Commerce Department K. G. Wickramasinghe and the Sri Lankan Ambassador in the USA, M. Subasinghe. Minister of Industries Tourism and Investment Promotion Anura Bandaranaike and several other government and private sector officials are also expected to join the delegation.

According to a member of the delegation, the Minister will attend the joint (Sri Lanka and United States) Trade Investment Free Agreement (TIFA) meeting which would be chaired by Robert Zollicke who is a Trade Recommendation Officer (TRO) to the US government. "Zollicke is very influential and has a big say in the trade activities of the US government and recommending FTA's," he said.

The progress made so far with regard to the FTA would be examined at this meeting. Several rounds of talks have been held in this regard by the former UNF and the UPFA governments so far.

"This would be another key issue on the agenda and discussions would be held to secure additional US garment quotas for Sri Lanka," he said.

Seeking more employment opportunities in the US for Sri Lankan IT professionals will be another item in the agenda of the Sri Lanka delegation. The Sri Lankan delegation would leave on October 22 and arrive on October 29.

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