Sri Lanka has preferential and free trade agreements with India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Singapore and Israel. It is currently in the processing of upgrading its agreement with India to a much more comprehensive one.
Sri Lanka is also party to SAFTA, the agreement on a South Asia Free Trade Area, as well as BIMSTEC, which aims to hammer out a regional FTA.
last update: May 2012 Photo: Sri Lankan engineers' association
Sri Lankan industrialists have voiced concern over a proposed free trade agreement with China and government plans to reduce import tariffs that protect them, saying they feared they might not be able to compete.
Sri Lanka is closing in on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China after ending the sixth round of negotiations on trade in services with senior officials hopeful that the deal could be concluded soon.
Sri Lanka expects to deepen existing FTA with India and to sign a FTA with Singapore and another with China. Sri Lanka also hopes to talk to Japan, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries with regards to FTAs.
Sri Lanka is keen to establish a tripartite arrangement for trade and investment with India and Singapore, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Harsha de Silva has said.