India is keen on planning the investment in Sri Lanka of about USD 2 billion in the next three to four years, a visiting Indian commerce minister said.
Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Commerce Minister is in Sri Lanka with an Indian business deputation to expand trade ties between the both nations.
After talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the minister told reporters that India had not set a time frame for negotiating an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement with Sri Lanka, while the Sri Lankan government wanted it by year end.
Addressing all issues of concern to all parties, Sitharaman said that the ETCA will have to be negotiated in a “great detail.”
Certain groups and political parties in Sri Lanka are against the ETCA agreement and have stated that the agreement will not benefit Sri Lanka.
However, Sitharaman said that no pact will be signed without the two parties agreeing to it wholeheartedly.
The two meetings on ETCA have been held between Sri Lanka and India so far. The next round of talks is scheduled to take place in New Delhi.
Minister Samarawickrema told reporters, “the ETCA was expected to open up a market of 1.25 billion people in India and Sri Lankan entrepreneurs were asking for the import of labor in sectors such as construction, shipbuilding and IT services. The government will put in a system to regulate the use of imported labor.” he added.
India to invest USD 2 bn in Sri Lanka in next 4 years
