BY Cassendra DooleThe Chief Negotiator for the China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka will be State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, speaking to The Morning Business, said. “We have appointed the State Minister of Foreign Affairs as the chief negotiator for the China FTA,” he said, adding that the appointment of a chief negotiator for the overall FTAs was still pending. The Morning Business attempted to contact the state minister for a comment but he was unavailable. However, in October last year, state minister Tharaka Balasuriya said that Sri Lankan authorities are reviewing the provisions of the proposed FTA with China to ensure it would not turn out to be “another Singapore FTA”. Discussions on a FTA with China goes back to 2014, when Sri Lanka and China had six rounds of negotiations regarding a proposed free trade agreement.

Source: The Nation August 08, 2021 18:33 UTC