Govt to sign free trade deal with Sri Lanka

[Gibbs]

Tofail: Govt to sign free trade deal with Sri Lanka

• Asif Shawkat
• Published at 11:14 PM February 12, 2017

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Sunday said the government will sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka to boost bilateral trade and commerce.
The minister came up with the announcement after a meeting with Sri Lankan Ambassador to Bangladesh Yasoja Gunasekera at his office in the capital on Sunday.

“Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have reached a consensus to sign free-trade agreement (FTA). We are going through discussion about the ins and outs of the agreement,” said Tofail.

If the FTA is signed, Bangladesh’s export to Sri Lanka would see a huge jump, he added. Tofail also said bilateral discussion is going on to resolve the barrier and would be solved very soon.

The FTA deal will allow Bangladesh to use the Colombo Port, which would save three days for local importers and exporters, said the minister.

According to the Export Promotion (EPB) data, in the last fiscal, Bangladesh earned$30.45 million from Sri Lanka, exporting several goods.

Of the 30.45 million, $13.38 million came from pharmaceuticals products while Bangladesh imported goods worth $45 million from Sri Lanka.

Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, additional Secretary (FTA) M Shafikul Islam and Joint Secretary (FTA) Munir Chowdhury, among others, were present at the programme.

http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2017/02/12/tofail-govt-sign-free-trade-deal-sri-lanka/

P.S : What an ironic name for the commerce minister.. "To fail".. Hopefully he is doing the opposite..

 

[Bilal9]

Tofail: Govt to sign free trade deal with Sri Lanka

• Asif Shawkat
• Published at 11:14 PM February 12, 2017

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Sunday said the government will sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka to boost bilateral trade and commerce.
The minister came up with the announcement after a meeting with Sri Lankan Ambassador to Bangladesh Yasoja Gunasekera at his office in the capital on Sunday.

“Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have reached a consensus to sign free-trade agreement (FTA). We are going through discussion about the ins and outs of the agreement,” said Tofail.

If the FTA is signed, Bangladesh’s export to Sri Lanka would see a huge jump, he added. Tofail also said bilateral discussion is going on to resolve the barrier and would be solved very soon.

The FTA deal will allow Bangladesh to use the Colombo Port, which would save three days for local importers and exporters, said the minister.

According to the Export Promotion (EPB) data, in the last fiscal, Bangladesh earned$30.45 million from Sri Lanka, exporting several goods.

Of the 30.45 million, $13.38 million came from pharmaceuticals products while Bangladesh imported goods worth $45 million from Sri Lanka.

Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, additional Secretary (FTA) M Shafikul Islam and Joint Secretary (FTA) Munir Chowdhury, among others, were present at the programme.

http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2017/02/12/tofail-govt-sign-free-trade-deal-sri-lanka/

P.S : What an ironic name for the commerce minister.. "To fail".. Hopefully he is doing the opposite..

Muslim Meaning: The name Tufail/Tufayl (for boys) in Arabic is a Muslim baby name. In Islam the meaning of the name Tufail/Tufayl is: Mediator. Expedient.

More on point, Bangladesh is readying a large fleet of under-1000 ton coastal bulkers and container ships that will go down to Port of Colombo and ship directly to local inland riverine ports like Dhaka in Bangladesh, cutting container delivery times back and forth even further.

Some ships will also call at Indian Eastern coastal ports like Chennai and Vizag as well, improving efficiency.

http://bdnews24.com/business/2016/0...india-under-coastal-shipping-deal-on-thursday

http://www.telugudesam.org/eng/news...es-1st-direct-voyage-bangladesh-krishnapatnam

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...il-from-krishnapatnam-port/article8406188.ece

 

[Homo Sapiens]

P.S : What an ironic name for the commerce minister.. "To fail".. Hopefully he is doing the opposite..

More correct spelling would be 'Tofael'. That's how the name is pronounced.

 

[bluesky]

Free trade with SL and coastal shipping between BD, India and SL will help all the countries involved. I believe, Colombo is the port where even today the majority of Europe, ME and Africa bound BD cargoes are trans-shipped. Free trade and transshipment are not directly related with each other, but one may supplement the other.

 

[Gibbs]

Muslim Meaning: The name Tufail/Tufayl (for boys) in Arabic is a Muslim baby name. In Islam the meaning of the name Tufail/Tufayl is: Mediator. Expedient.

 

[Gandh brandi]

What are Sri Lanka's major exports @Gibbs?

 

[Gibbs]

What are Sri Lanka's major exports @Gibbs?

Clothing, accessories
Tea, spices, coffee
Rubber, rubber articles
Gems (particularly diamonds), precious metals
Electrical machinery, equipment
Fruits, nuts
Ships, boats
Mineral fuels including oil
Fish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sri_Lanka

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Mineral fuels including oil

I am pleasantly surprised that Sri Lanka is an Mineral fuel/oil exporter.How much oil/gas/coal are produced in Sri lanka and exported?

 

[Gibbs]

I am pleasantly surprised that Sri Lanka is an Mineral fuel/oil exporter.How much oil/gas/coal are produced in Sri lanka and exported?

Honestly i'm not sure, I dont think Lanka either produce or export crude.. I was directly quoting Wiki, Maybe they were referring to refined oil products ?? @Godman

 

[Nilgiri]

Honestly i'm not sure, I dont think Lanka either produce or export crude.. I was directly quoting Wiki, Maybe they were referring to refined oil products ?? @Godman

SL exports many lubricants and related derivatives from crude oil processing/refinement I believe:

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100808/BusinessTimes/bt04.html

Local crude production is nil in SL.

 

[Bilal9]

I sincerely believe trade should increase exponentially with Sri Lanka now that we have FTA with them. Sri Lankan products have reputation in Bangladesh for having better quality standards than *some* categories of Indian products (I recall a few hundred city buses we imported from Sri Lanka, as well as semi-trailers and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the carriage assembly work which was much better compared to most Indian products). Indian exporters unfortunately have a tendency to short-change quality every chance they get, and don't really care about reputation or repeat business. Well to be fair this may not be universal but it is unfortunately the majority of cases.

Sri Lankan export basket may not be as diverse as India's, but we have to give preference to imports from them - we have to consider leveling the export playing field for them vis-à-vis Indian exports, even if their products are a few dollars more expensive.

 

[Nilgiri]

I sincerely believe trade should increase exponentially with Sri Lanka now that we have FTA with them. Sri Lankan products have reputation in Bangladesh for having better quality standards than *some* categories of Indian products (I recall a few hundred city buses we imported from Sri Lanka, as well as semi-trailers and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the carriage assembly work which was much better compared to most Indian products). Indian exporters unfortunately have a tendency to short-change quality every chance they get, and don't really care about reputation or repeat business. Well to be fair this may not be universal but it is unfortunately the majority of cases.

Sri Lankan export basket may not be as diverse as India's, but we have to give preference to imports from them - we have to consider leveling the export playing field for them vis-à-vis Indian exports, even if their products are a few dollars more expensive.

"If its not Indian, its always better " same old propaganda from same old butt hurt individual from the same old zero serious industry country.

Glad he will remain disappointed by the dissonance between his imagination and reality as always when it comes to anything to do with BD.

2015 trade figures for SL - BD:

SL exports to BD: 98 million USD

BD exports to SL: 38 million USD

"Free Trade Agreement" will be such a "game changer" I bet...

 

[TopCat]

I sincerely believe trade should increase exponentially with Sri Lanka now that we have FTA with them. Sri Lankan products have reputation in Bangladesh for having better quality standards than *some* categories of Indian products (I recall a few hundred city buses we imported from Sri Lanka, as well as semi-trailers and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the carriage assembly work which was much better compared to most Indian products). Indian exporters unfortunately have a tendency to short-change quality every chance they get, and don't really care about reputation or repeat business. Well to be fair this may not be universal but it is unfortunately the majority of cases.

Sri Lankan export basket may not be as diverse as India's, but we have to give preference to imports from them - we have to consider leveling the export playing field for them vis-à-vis Indian exports, even if their products are a few dollars more expensive.

Indians are not much of business minded people. Mostly lazy as hell.
I was trying to make few contacts in India and China for the last one week. I had an inclination towards India as it is easy to travel and easy to transport. I have not received a single reply from any of my leads from India but I am already saturated with Chinese replies. And more so, Chinese are not afraid to disclose any technology or business secret which may help the other party in closing the deal. Tell you one thing Indians probably lost a sum of 50 crore and in the long run few more hundred crores if eventually project flies.

 

[Bilal9]

Indians are not much of business minded people. Mostly lazy as hell.
I was trying to make few contacts in India and China for the last one week. I had an inclination towards India as it is easy to travel and easy to transport. I have not received a single reply from any of my leads from India but I am already saturated with Chinese replies. And more so, Chinese are not afraid to disclose any technology or business secret which may help the other party in closing the deal. Tell you one thing Indians probably lost a sum of 50 crore and in the long run few more hundred crores if eventually project flies.

My experience as well .....

 

[Species]

Sri Lanka could be a good market for our pharmaceutical products. There is a huge demand there.

http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/138915/BD-pharmaceuticals-are-of-int’l-standard-Lankan