The Public Commission on National Policy on International Trade Agreement

Inauguration Ceremony of

the Public Commission on National Policy on International Trade Agreement

held at Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on 22nd of March 2017

The Objective

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit has been increasing over the years creating a considerable pressure on the Balance of Payments of Sri Lanka. News has been spreading about proposals for entering into several international trade agreements. It is the global understanding that a country enters into such agreements should have established its national policy on international trade beforehand.

In the vacuum of any prompt, real and genuine attempt by the Government of Sri Lanka to put the country’s long-term (national) interests first when any policies or strategies pertaining to foreign trade are concerned, in spite of written requests made by the professionals to prepare a National Policy for International Trade with wide public participation, it becomes the role of professionals of Sri Lanka to institute a public hearing process on the subject, in view of perceiving what the public at large think of the apparent orientation towards attempting to find answers to economic problems through bilateral and regional preferential trade liberalization. Professionals’ National Front (PNF) decided to appoint a public commission with the objective of fulfilling this national need.