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| Friday, 30 July 2004 |
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Lanka and Thailand to boost trade From Shirajiv Sirimane in Thailand Sri Lanka will launch a series of programs to increase trade between Thailand and Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Thailand J. D. A. Wijewardane told the Daily News yesterday. Trade between the two countries was low - to the value of US 160 million last year. "The trade balance too is in favour of Thailand with Sri Lanka only having exported items to the value of US 10 million," he said. Among the mainly traded items from Sri Lanka are gem stones, tea, fish and by products while cement, building material, electronic items including cell phones and computer accessories and finished garment products are traded from Thailand. He said that the potential for tea exports to Thailand is immense and this is an area he wishes to concentrate on. "We are hoping to launch promotional programs with the Sri Lankan Tea Board in this regard since Sri Lanka's brand image for tea is very high in Thailand," he said. He said that the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the two countries is aimed at increasing trade to almost one billion US dollars in two to three years. Tourism is another highly untapped market. Only around 10,000 Thai nationals travel to Sri Lanka annually while over 30,000 Sri Lankans travel to Thailand. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragarmaer's meeting with the two low cost airlines in Thailand to include Sri Lanka in their international destination schedule would help to increase the tourism potential between the two countries that share Buddhism as the main religion. He said that they would seek the guidance of the Foreign Minister for these initiatives. Meanwhile, Thailand's Foreign Minister D. Surakiart, who met Minister Kadiragarmar said that Thailand has decided to accelerate and deepen cooperation with Sri Lanka in key areas such as economic, religion, culture technical and education. "The strength of our cooperation is already reflected in the conclusion of six agreements and MoUs to be signed today. The two MoUs and one agreement on agriculture will combine our efforts in exploiting the natural resources in which Thailand is ready to assist Sri Lanka with appropriate techno needs to strengthen Sri Lanka's agricultural sector. "Our commitment to build a stronger Asia would strengthen our partnership with Europe, the US and other regions," he said. |
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