Shehan discusses National Trade Facilitation Platform

In a bid to boost foreign exchange earnings the Government is exploring the possibility of making Sri Lanka one of the emerging economies in the Asia Pacific region through the implementation of the “National Trade Facilitation Platform”.

A discussion concerning the concept of e-government reform projects was held yesterday with the participation of the State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe with Dagang Net (Malaysia), Dialog Axiata (Sri Lanka), W-Tech Global (Sri Lanka), Kale Logistics and Technology Institute (India) representatives.

Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena, Deputy Secretary to the Treasury R.M.P. Ratnayake, and Director General of the Department of Fiscal Policy Kapila Senanayaka were also present at the discussion.

The move is expected to enable the economy to recover the loss of over $ 1 billion currently lost due to tax, customs and excise revenue, smuggling, theft, fraud, piracy, intentional misrepresentation, grey market, counterfeiting and process inefficiencies, etc.

The importance of this project to be a strategic gateway not only to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives but also to South East Asia including the countries of the Middle East, East Africa and South Africa was also discussed here.