Sri Lanka’s trade with Asia’s fastest growing economy is set to surge when both countries meet for Ministerial trade talks later this year -after almost three years, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said.
The Bangladesh Joint Committee for Economic & Technical Co-operation (SL-BJCETC) at Ministerial Level was last held in Colombo on 9th November 2016.
During the 2016 SL-BJCETC session, ideas were exchanged between the two countries on the proposed Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
Also, the draft Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA), cooperation between the Investment Authorities in Bangladesh (BIDA) and Sri Lanka (BOI), and the draft MoU on standards between BSTI and SLSI were discussed –they later became a reality when MoUs were signed in 2017.
The proposed bilateral FTA aims at boosting total trade to higher levels beyond current $150 Mn levels. According to the Department of Commerce, bilateral trade between both countries in 2018 (Jan-Nov) totalled $156.15 Mn in comparison to $166 Mn for all twelve months of 2017.
The balance of trade has been in favour of Sri Lanka over the years. Exports to Bangladesh were at $124 Mn (2018 Jan-Nov) growing by 34% in the five years since 2014. Sri Lanka’s main exports to Bangladesh in 2018 were plastics, cotton, knitted fabrics, soaps and fuel oil.
Even total trade has increased by 34% in the last five years–from $ 116 Mn in 2014 to $156.15 Mn in 2018 (Jan-Nov).
In July 2017, after a bilateral meeting between HE President Maithripala Sirisena and Hon Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, both countries signed 14 instruments some of them the result of 2016 Colombo session.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are members of regional trade and co-operation agreements, including the South Asian Free-Trade Area (SAFTA), the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation.
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