Cabinet approval has been granted to proceed with the proposed Sri Lanka-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
According to the government, the ninth round of negotiations on the proposed FTA was held in Colombo from 18-21 December 2023.
The relevant discussions have concluded, while legal and institutional issues have been referred to working groups for legal scrutiny.
In the 9th round of negotiations, the two sides agreed to include provisions for the simultaneous elimination of 50% of the cumulative duties applicable to the Harmonized System classification codes classified in the Sensitive List of the Tariff Liberalization Program at the beginning of the 16th year from the date of entry into force of the Agreement.
Accordingly, both sides agreed to reduce the duration of the Tariff Liberalization Program from 18 years to 16 years in the 9th round of negotiations.
As such, the proposal presented by the President to proceed per the agreement was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. (NewsWire)