The Sri Lanka-Thailand Business Council held its AGM at the Ramada Hotel in Colombo recently.
Chief guest Ambassador of Thailand to Sri Lanka, Paitoon Mahapannaporn said, “It is my first year as Ambassador of Thailand to Sri Lanka. I feel so blessed to be here where I can work very happily, not only because Thailand and Sri Lanka have enjoyed close, cordial and special relations tight-knitted by deep rooted cultural and religious heritage but also there are numerous enthusiastic Friends of Thailand, like this Business Council, the very first gatherings I have engaged since my early arrival.
“The recent development in trade, investment, and business interactions between Thailand and Sri Lanka has been elevated to a greater level by the signing of the FTA in February this year. The FTA1 is a new milestone in our economic ties that help pave the way for lower tariffs on 85% of products between the two countries over 6 years.
“It is projected that the trade volume between our 2 countries will increase to more than 300 million USD after the FTA takes effect next year.
“However, while the FTA offers great opportunities but also there remain some challenges. Not all products will get duty-free access immediately.
“FTA covers areas on Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Sanitary and Phytosanitary, Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Trade in Services, Investment, Customs Procedure and Trade Facilitation, Economic Cooperation, Intellectual Property, Initial Provisions, Institutional and Final Provisions, Transparency and Dispute Settlement.
“To enhance Sri Lanka’s exports to Thailand, we need to look beyond tariff reductions. Focus may be more on diversification of export products and being suppliers of key products in high demand in Thailand, for example, the largest imports into Thailand are electrical machinery, equipment, and parts.
“Sri Lanka should focus more on producing quality products, encourage bilateral production with regard to global value chains, and attract export-oriented investments by dismantling barriers to reduce the cost of doing business in Sri Lanka,” he said.
