Visiting Singapore Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran expressed hope that initial studies pertaining to the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka and Singapore will be completed expeditiously to give further fillip to economic ties between the two countries.
Speaking at a trade seminar held in Colombo yesterday Minister Iswaran said both countries have decided to scale up ties in key areas of investments and trade and the key officials from the both countries have been directed to finalize the initial studies on the proposed FTA.
“We believe that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s request to sign a FTA between the two countries clearly resonate with Singapore instincts to deepen economic links with similar minded partners.
Our initial reports strongly suggest that both Sri Lanka and Singapore stand to gain much from concluding the modern and comprehensive FTA .We have instructed our officials to finalise the studies quickly; so the decision on how to proceed with the FTA can be taken soon, perhaps when Prime Minister Wickremesinghe visits Singapore shortly.” Minister Iswaran said. The economic ties between Sri Lanka and Singapore has been growing organically , but we are still far from full potential. there is significant scope to explore new opportunities and to deepen broader partnerships between the two business communities, he added.
According to the Minister, the growth of FDIs from Singapore to Sri Lanka has been significant. Over the past decade, the stock of Singapore FDIs in Sri Lanka increased by 2.5 times bringing it to a total of US $ 520 million.
[Singapore’s Surbana Jurong to develop Western Region,Trinco]
Minister Malik Samarawickreme said Singapore’s Surbana Jurong has formulated the Western Region Megalopolis Plan, which will be the center-piece of Lanka’s development program.
They will also be developing a Master Plan for the Trincomalee region. “We hope to sign the MoU with Surbana Jurong during Minister Iswaran’s visit.”
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