No partnership between India and Sri Lanka is as strong as the historic Indo-Lanka trade pact inked way back in 1998.
“Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement was the most significant Indo-Sri Lanka partnership we have realised on the commercial front,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, in Chennai recently.
Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the inaugural event of the UEF Trade Summit 2017 at the Chennai Trade Centre, Tamil Nadu.
The event, the second edition in the series organized by the United Economic Forum (UEF), was unveiled by Minister for Finance of Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Haseeb A. Drabu. UEF is currently led by Ahmed A.R. Buhari, Founder President and CEO of Dubai-based Coal and Oil Group (C&O).
“The most significant Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) played a crucial role in shaping Sri Lanka’s subsequent economic integration with other countries in the region,” said Minister Bathiudeen. “We signed it in 1998. Undoubtedly this was the most significant Indo-Sri Lanka partnership we have realised on the commercial front. I am sure that the ISFTA played a crucial role as a catalyst that shaped our subsequent economic integration with other countries in the region. With the ISFTA becoming operational in year 2000, the value of Indo-Lanka bilateral trade has increased in an unprecedented manner from US$ 650 mn in 2000, to close to US$ 5 billion by 2016.”
0 comments: