Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeisnghe said yesterday the newly inked Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Singapore would lead the way for several such other trade pacts in the future.

“Today we signed the free trade agreement with Singapore—the first one signed in about 15 years.

I hope it will lead the way to others because as the global economy expands, our market has to expand,” Wickremsinghe told the Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, last evening in Colombo.

Sri Lanka already has FTAs with India and Pakistan and is working towards getting into more bilateral trade agreements with several other countries including Bangladesh and Malaysia. In the pipeline is also an extension to the current FTA with India.

In comparison, Singapore has 21 bilateral and regional FTAs with 32 trading partners.

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe said following the FTA signing, there will be investment seminars by the end of February in Singapore for which he is planning to attend.

He also said the much-awaited Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties Bill will be presented to Parliament today.