ISDS Case Map
Sri Lanka
SLFP MP Dayasiri Jayasekara alleged today that former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, who was in Singapore, had played the key role in signing the Free Trade Agreement between Sri Lanka and Singapore.
The Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement has raised serious concern among many industries.
Government doctors are to stage a token strike tomorrow against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Singapore.
The President of Sri Lanka expressed that his government will safeguard the local industrialists. In several occasions, he has mentioned that the government does not want to go for trade agreements that are deleterious to the country's economy. However, in January this year, the president was seated in the high chair clapping when the bilateral trade agreement with Singapore is signed, which liberalized the country's service sector effectively for the first time.
In response to concerns raised by some professional associations last week concerning the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA), the Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry in a detailed response said the movement of natural persons from Singapore has not been opened except for intra-corporate transferees in senior management and business visitors linked to investments.
In Sri Lanka, the top professional bodies representing engineers, architects, town planners and quantity surveyors and other related professions this week charged that the government has rushed into signing the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) without having proper legal frameworks in place to ensure job security of local professionals and the possible entry of under-qualified overseas professionals.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with Singapore is detrimental to the country because it would allow the flowing in of cheap labour from countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the joint opposition said today.
Sri Lanka and Thailand will begin talks on setting broad parameters for a free trade deal from May 2018, officials said.
Sri Lanka will “redouble” efforts to strike a free trade deal with China and conclude and expanded trade pact with India as part of the island nation’s strategy of becoming an Indian Ocean hub for investors and multinationals, the country’s top diplomat says.
Sri Lanka's president has warned that China's Belt and Road economic initiative should not be allowed to pose a threat to the international community.
