Indo-Lanka CEPA only if beneficial: Harsha

Thursday, 30 April 2015 01:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva – Pic by Upul Abayasekara By Charumini de Silva Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday said that the Government would not enter into any trade agreement if it was not in the best interest of the country. He made these remarks speaking at a forum on the ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and its Implications on Sri Lanka’s Economy’, organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL). “I’m not going to be influenced by those who are for and against the signing of CEPA. I think we need to understand that there are issues that affect everyone who has an opinion. As policymakers who are supposed to come up with plans for this country, we need to be able to compromise and find the middle ground as far as it helps us,” he said. The Deputy Minister asserted that if there was no benefit to Sri Lankans, the Government would not go ahead with CEPA. “We should not even talk about CEPA or anything else; we have to be convinced that it is beneficial to Sri Lanka. I’m not representing the Government of India; I’m representing the Government of Sri Lanka. We will win for this country therefore our Government will not enter into any agreement if it is not in the best interest of this country.” The Deputy Minister gave assurances that he would speak with the Director General of the Department of Commerce on how exactly they could keep to various restrictions in terms of secrecy and bilateral negotiations and see to what extent they could engage to make sure that Sri Lanka’s case was strong enough.

SL to regain GSP+ next year

Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday revealed that the country would be in a position to get back the GSP+ concession by the middle of next year. He said that the Government had been having very productive discussions with the Trade Commissioner in Brussels and the political leadership of the European Union. “We are very confident that later on this year or latest by early next year we will get the ball rolling and hopefully by the middle or towards the latter half of next year we should have GSP+ back,” he said. The return of the GSP+ facility will give exporters the concessions that they have been waiting for to get back into those markets, he added.