Trade facilitation will benefit business community - Jeyaraj

Sri Lanka is a highly trade dependent small economy with import/ export trade contributing nearly 73 percent to the GDP said Minister of Trade Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle at the inaugural ceremony of OECD Global Forum on trade facilitation which was held in Colombo yesterday.

This has been forefront for launching negotiations on trade facilitation in the WTO the Minister said.

'We believe that small and medium enterprises are the livewire and driving force in our economy, stands to gain from reduced transaction costs and improving trading environment at the border' he said.

The Minister said that trade facilitation will bring direct benefits not only to the business community but also to Governments in terms of faster delivery of goods, reduced costs and economic efficiency.

'The conference is indeed very timely and offers the opportunity to exchange views and experiences on critical issues of implication of ongoing WTO negotiations on trade facilitation for the developing countries.

Sri Lanka welcomes the proposals, which are progressing with the WTO negotiation group which aims at improving aspects of three GATT articles.

These proposals will enhanced transparency in custom procedures and cooperation among national customs agencies, he said. With reduced tariffs as a result of long term negotiations under the GATT/WTO, trade facilitation has proceeded much further. It has become a major policy thrust for economic development.

A major challenge for us is agreeing on an uniform set of rules on trade facilitation that gives due consideration to capacity constraints including the inadequacy of infrastructure facilities when implementing such measures he said.

The Forum will discuses important issues on economic effects of trade facilitation, cost of implementing trade facilitation measures, identifying needs of developing countries and designing technical assistance. It will conclude today.(AS).