Sri Lanka looks to revive free trade deal with Singapore
2022.09.27 02:31
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe looks on during an interview with Reuters at Presidential Secretariat, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka August 18, 2022. REUTERS/ Dinuka Liyanawatte
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will step up efforts to revive a stalled free trade pact with Singapore, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told the city state’s premier on Tuesday, his office said in a statement.
The leader of the crisis-hit Indian Ocean nation met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Japan on the sidelines of a state funeral for Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister assassinated in July.
The free trade pact signed in January 2018 was suspended because of objections from Sri Lankan opposition parties and professional bodies. Sri Lanka proposed more than a dozen amendments in May 2021 but talks have largely stalled.
