Dhaka, Colombo agree to facilitate bilateral trade

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have agreed to facilitate bilateral trade by removing non-tariff barriers, diversify tradable goods and explore innovative ways to give fresh impetus to trade and commercial relations, report agencies. This was stated in the joint statement issued simultaneously from Dhaka and Colombo Tuesday on the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Bangladesh and the summit talks between him and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Both sides agreed that the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, though showing positive trends, was far below the potential and did not reflect the cordial political relations. Both countries agreed to activate the relevant institutional mechanisms for mutual cooperation, while Colombo proposed resumption of feeder service for Chittagong and Mongla Ports via Colombo. Sri Lanka also invited a team from Bangladesh to visit the newly-developed Hambantota deep seaport and the upgraded facilities at Colombo Port. In response, Bangladesh agreed to send a team to Sri Lanka in the near future to explore the potentials for mutual cooperation and resumption of the feeder service. Both expressed satisfaction that the shipping authorities of the two countries were engaged in reviewing the existing Shipping Services Agreement. In the joint statement, Dhaka and Colombo recognised that Joint Economic Commission can be an effective mechanism to further enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in many spheres. They agreed that the fourth session of the Joint Economic Commission should be held as soon as possible. Both sides stressed on further reduction of the number of items from each other's negative lists under SAFTA. Bangladesh welcomed more Sri Lankan investment in textiles, knitwear, leather, pharmaceuticals, agro-based industries, steel and engineering, IT, education, health and hospitality sectors in Bangladesh. The two leaders agreed that the finalization of the proposed Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection should be completed as early as possible. Both countries expressed satisfaction at the commencement of flight operations between Colombo and Dhaka by Mithin Lanka and agreed that the existing Air Services Agreement would be revitalized to make it more responsive to the current needs including facilitation of cargo air transport. On tourism, both sides proposed that tour operators from both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh draw up special packages for people interested in visiting Buddhist religious sites in the two countries.