At the Fifth Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Week held from October 13 to November 3 in Bangkok, including the Committee on Trade and Investment beginning its deliberations on October 31, State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe was unanimously appointed the Vice Chairman of the Fifth Session of the Committee.
At the inauguration was the launch of the Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2017: 'Channeling Trade and Investment into Sustainable Development', which served as the resource document for the deliberations.
At the discussions, the promotion of trade facilitation, paperless trade and electronic commerce, investment, enterprise development for sustainable development, and the future focus of the trade and investment sub-programme were the central issues.
Subsequent to the inauguration of the committee, a panel session was conducted dealing with 'Channeling Trade and Investment into Sustainable Development'. State Minister Senasinghe served as a panelist. He pointed out the timelines in launching the Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Report. He outlined that the current coalition government in collaboration with the main parties of Sri Lanka had laid a solid foundation for economic development by emphasizing the importance of good governance, rule of law, transparency, and zero tolerance of corruption. He referred to the President’s commitment that Sri Lanka should achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
He opined that Sri Lanka is moving forward in terms of growth, literacy rate, beauty and the prevailing peaceful environment in the country. Sri Lanka was becoming a model for the region by seeking to achieve a 7.5% growth rate by 2020. The State Minister further stated that women empowering programmes are being implemented by providing training, capital, IT literacy, financial facilities and seeking the opening of market opportunities. He said that Sri Lanka envisages to achieve energy sufficiency from renewable energy sources by 2050.
Under Secretary General of UN and Secretary General of ESCAP, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar in her opening remarks at the inaugural session stated that economic activities related to trade and investment at the global level have put pressure on the environment, and thereby developed further inequalities. She highlighted the need of targeted trade and investment policies in order to reverse this trend. The State Minister chaired the first session of the afternoon discussions of the committee.
A workshop titled 'Regional Consultation on e-Commerce for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific' preceded the Trade and Investment Committee session. State Minister Senasinghe also participated in this workshop.
State Minister Senasinghe also met with the Under Secretary General of UN and Secretary General of ESCAP Dr. Shamshad Akhtar and exchanged views on aspects of the economic development mandate of ESCAP.
Further, they explored awareness for strengthening cooperation with ESCAP in areas such as national capacity building in trade negotiations, preparation for regional economic cooperation and integration, through a forum which would cover China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the future of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement, during the bilateral meeting.
Dr. Akhtar pledged the organization’s support in assisting Sri Lanka on relevant trade and investment matters.
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