The National Chamber of Commerce said it is an absolute necessity to have a national trade policy for Sri Lanka which will govern and provide directions to any trade agreements to be signed by Sri Lanka with any other country.
This is following Sri Lanka negotiating many preferential agreements with larger and stronger economies such as India, China and Singapore. The newly elected National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka President Sujeewa Samaraweera speaking at the 58th annual general meeting of the Chamber noted that with the background of Sri Lanka entering into the free trade agreements with very strong economies in the near future, it is also vital to implement anti-dumping regulations in Sri Lanka.
“In other words a common mechanism to protect our domestic industries from unfair trade practices is a absolute necessity.”He said the chamber also welcomes the decision of the European Union to grant the GSP + facility to Sri Lanka which will have a positive impact on the country’s exports to Europe,since Sri Lanka’s export pricing will become competitive and will generate more market opportunities.
“In return investments in the country also may go up with a positive impact on employment generation and GDP and narrow the current account deficit,” Samaraweera said.
The chamber plans to implement well focused development programs and will form business facilitation counters for business interaction between local companies.
The Chamber will also continue to work on SMEs by facilitating their business interaction by creating a virtual marketplace at the chamber to create synergies.
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