{"id":81880,"date":"2018-10-10T13:55:28","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T20:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=81880"},"modified":"2018-10-10T13:55:28","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T20:55:28","slug":"sri-lanka-trade-and-foreign-policy-on-trade-agreemetns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/10\/10\/sri-lanka-trade-and-foreign-policy-on-trade-agreemetns\/","title":{"rendered":"SRI LANKA TRADE AND FOREIGN POLICY ON TRADE AGREEMETNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarath<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Wijesinghe<\/i><\/b>\u00a0former Ambassador UAE and Israel<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Trade and Foreign policy is synonymous and linked together<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trade and Foreign policy is synonymous and directly linked to each other in the new world order where states\u00a0have given priority to trade over foreign policy interacting\u00a0with\u00a0the rest of the world, states and international organizations.\u00a0Trade\u00a0Policy is statement\u00a0of\u00a0intent and\u00a0deliberations\u00a0of a system of principles for a rational outcome\u00a0on subjective decisions, as a result of collective deliberations of the policy makers in governance or private sector with future strategies.\u00a0Trade Policy is as or more important to a nation than the foreign policy on which the goodwill and reputation depends on in the family\u00a0of states.\u00a0Policies are made by the legislators in a state backed by intellectuals and academies for the betterment of the state and the subjects with short and\u00a0long term plans for the nation. Trade and Foreign\u201d\u00a0are\u00a0mixed and interwoven\u00a0fields where trade is prioritized today due to new world trends on promoting trade over other parts of governance with the help of foreign relations as a main tool thereby Ambassadors\u00a0and heads\u00a0of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 foreign offices\u00a0worldwide have\u00a0been given\u00a0specific\u00a0instructions to\u00a0give top priority to trade in place\u00a0of traditional\u00a0duties as Ambassadors representing the country to enhance the friendly relations and maintain\u00a0goodwill.\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0Sri Lanka Ambassadors from\u00a0very powerful counties creep\u00a0into the offices of powerful\u00a0Sri Lankan\u00a0Ministers and politicians looking for contracts,\u00a0assignments,\u00a0and enter into trade agreements in promotional duties for their respective countries even bypassing protocol practices.\u00a0They use direct and indirect influence to promote their countries and trade unlike our some Ambassadors.\u00a0USA, India, France, UK, USSR and many power blocks\u00a0such\u00a0as EU Ambassadors give priority to trade and commerce related matters to promote their business transforming traditional diplomacy to trade diplomacy. It is\u00a0doubtful how many Sri Lankan Ambassadors are following the\u00a0new\u00a0\u00a0world trends\u00a0of promoting Sri Lanka and trade,\u00a0due to the absence of a correct, firm and coherent foreign and a trade policy\u00a0with specific instructions and strategies\u00a0from the governance\u00a0to the foreign officials\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to promote trade diplomacy.\u00a0Trade policy\u00a0may be closed, open, protectionist, liberal, or depend on any political ideology or a vision\u00a0of\u00a0a visionary of the state, but the underlying feature is the\u00a0need and applicability of\u00a0 state\u00a0\u00a0friendly set of principles to be applied\u00a0in the formulation and application of the policies. Same principle\u00a0applies\u00a0to the foreign policy as set of policies as to how the state acts and interacts with the rest of the world and the states in the international community through which how the state manages trade, politics, security and\u00a0other areas of governance indicates the two policies will not exist in isolation in the competitive world order for success and existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Singapore Agreement<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Singapore Agreement which is the\u00a0most\u00a0\u00a0comprehensive and\u00a0 controversial trade agreement\u00a0ever\u00a0\u00a0with 1083 pages only in English entered into under most suspicious and fast tract circumstances which could be retrieve only via the internet has 9900 items in the list\u00a0of exemptions on custom duties\u00a0which has short and long term effects\u00a0and implementations\u00a0\u00a0to Sri Lanka was signed before the President of Sri Lanka who himself has\u00a0subsequently\u00a0\u00a0appointed a commission to review the\u00a0instrument\u00a0\u00a0with no provisions to\u00a0terminate,\u00a0\u00a0amend or change without complicated and rigorous arbitration\u00a0procedures\u00a0to be taken place only in Singapore is a lesson for\u00a0\u00a0the future governances\u00a0to be extremely careful in\u00a0concluding on\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0such\u00a0circumstances when other\u00a0countries such as EU, UK,\u00a0Canada ,\u00a0USA and WTO members take stringent precautionary measure of going through cooling periods and\u00a0screening by legislature and professional and business organizations.\u00a0Most probably it is carefully drafted by the Singapore side which is mostly beneficial to them\u00a0with little or\u00a0no apparent benefits to Sri Lanka.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trade Policy<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trade policy is a collection of rules and regulations which pertaining to trade. Every nation has some form of trade policies in place with legislature and public officers formulating which are most appropriate to the country, and laws related to exchange of goods or services involved in local or international trade including Taxes, subsidies, export, import, and related regulations.\u00a0Internal\u00a0or international trade\u00a0cannot\u00a0exist in isolation as it is interconnected by rules, conventions,\u00a0agreements\u00a0bonded by\u00a0International\u00a0central organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement of\u00a0Traffic\u00a0and\u00a0Trade (GATT) which binds states, international organizations, and UN agencies with conventions agreements and determinations and arbitrations by international and local courts which are binding on states and institutional local and international indicating that a country must have a clear coherent and firm trade policy to be successful economically and politically as a member state whether small, large, weak or powerful.\u00a0On the book Sri Lankan Trade Policy said to be liberalized on paper, but not in\u00a0reality\u00a0with the two main\u00a0political\u00a0of the current unity government has different policies on trade and economy, where United National Party is for full\u00a0liberalization\u00a0\u00a0 and the other\u00a0main partner SLFP ( SLPP includes) is for\u00a0\u00a0closed economy with\u00a0protectionism\u00a0and pro national\u00a0 open economy\u00a0\u00a0with limitations\u00a0and human face, when the TNA the other partners\u00a0of the\u00a0government\u00a0concentrates\u00a0policies\u00a0\u00a0on\u00a0ethnic\/regional confined to\u00a0\u00a0North and East\u00a0\u00a0with\u00a0\u00a0other\u00a0pro government\u00a0small\u00a0parties such as JVP\u00a0has\u00a0different ideologies\u00a0but always supportive to the unity government\u00a0considering the former President\u00a0MR\u201d as the common\u00a0enemy\u00a0. ISFA\u00a0(Indo\u00a0Sri Lanka Free\u00a0trade\u00a0Agreement), ISFA\u00a0(Indo\u00a0Sri Lanka Free Trade\u00a0agreement) ASFPA\u00a0(South\u00a0Asian\u00a0Free Trade Agreement) and APTA\u00a0(Asia pacific\u00a0trade\u00a0agreements are\u00a0inactive\u00a0and\u00a0not in\u00a0operation\u00a0\u00a0with\u00a0no effects on the economy. Despite being\u00a0a\u00a0members of\u00a0WTO\u00a0,\u00a0GATT\u00a0\u00a0number of MOUs,\u00a0bilateral\u00a0and multilateral agreements\u00a0have been\u00a0\u00a0entered\u00a0into\u00a0with no comprehensive knowledge planning or Parliamentary approval. There appear to be no proper coherent trade policy for the country in the new political and administrative setup of\u00a0continues\u00a0political struggles for power\u00a0by all the parties concerned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foreign Policy<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Correct foreign policy for a\u00a0nation is\u00a0a pre requisite for development\u00a0and\u00a0prosperity. It has a direct\u00a0and\u00a0indirect\u00a0impact\u00a0on the economy\u00a0of a nation\u00a0in\u00a0a developing\u00a0world,\u00a0when\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0difficult\u00a0to live in\u00a0isolation\u00a0in the modern political and economic world order. The advent of modern\u00a0technology\u00a0has promoted increased globalization\u00a0and interconnected\u00a0world community with\/via\u00a0internet\u00a0and\u00a0digitalization playing a\u00a0large\u00a0role in redefining political\u00a0dynamics\u00a0both\u00a0domestic\u00a0and international.\u00a0It is doubtful that the basis of foreign policy based on\u00a0Friendly\u00a0with all and\u00a0angry with none\u201d on\u00a0non-alignment policies, is still in practice considering the conduct and the statements of the governance\u00a0on foreign policy and international safaris.\u00a0It\u00a0is\u00a0also\u00a0doubtful whether Sri Lanka has a foreign policy\u00a0at\u00a0all today, when\u00a0the President, Prime\u00a0Minister\u00a0and the\u00a0Foreign\u00a0Minister giving different versions and statements resulting instability and loss of confidence of the member states and the International Organizations when the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0minority governance\u00a0is\u00a0hanging\u00a0on a thread with uncertain and unholy\u00a0union of the President and\u00a0Prime\u00a0Minister\u00a0from parties with conflicting view policies and interests on political, and economic fronts. No policy\u00a0statements\u00a0on Trade and\u00a0foreign policy\u00a0have been pronounced since the\u00a0formation of\u00a0the\u00a0coalition\u00a0government\u00a0currently limping\u00a0on want\u00a0of clear majority to one party of the worrying two main parties with diverse views on politics and\u00a0economy\u00a0when the\u00a0wish\u00a0of the citizen is\u00a0the\u00a0resolution\u00a0of these\u00a0conflicting\u00a0policy\u00a0differences in\u00a0the interest\u00a0of the\u00a0country. When\u00a0the world is\u00a0moving\u00a0fast in the\u00a0digital\u00a0age,\u00a0Sri Lanka is still lagging\u00a0behind\u00a0want of\u00a0clear-cut\u00a0policies for main areas of\u00a0governance. Apart from foreign policy and\u00a0trade\u00a0apparently\u00a0\u00a0no\u00a0clear-cut\u00a0polices\u00a0are pronounced on\u00a0\u00a0Land, Education,\u00a0Agriculture,\u00a0Water,\u00a0Energy and many other areas which are interconnected to the subject for\u00a0discussion\u00a0on\u00a0\u00a0foreign\u00a0policy\u00a0and trade\u00a0as a prioiraty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Want of Foreign \/T<\/b>rade policy or Sri Lanka<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foreign\u00a0and Trade Policy should be prepared by the highest\u00a0echelons of\u00a0the\u00a0governance\u00a0with long\u00a0thought, knowledge, experience\u00a0and considerations\u00a0with the\u00a0consultation of intellectuals,\u00a0academics experienced expert\u00a0Sri Lankan friendly politicians with no hidden interests\u00a0financial\u00a0or\u00a0other agendas. We have blundered and\u00a0made historical errors from the 1815 Convention with British handing over\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0of Sri Lanka to the Crown\u00a0followed by\u00a0many\u00a0hurriedly\u00a0made, Political\u00a0and\u00a0trade agreements including the FTZ with Singapore without a termination clause,\u00a0and conditions detrimental to Sri Lanka\u00a0despite protests\u00a0from professionals to be cautious and pass through the Parliament for scrutinizing and approval.\u00a0Singapore though only 1\/18th<\/span>\u00a0size of North East,\u00a0is\u00a0a world\u00a0economic\u00a0powerhouse with\u00a0want\u00a0of space\u00a0which has\u00a0\u00a0controlling power\u00a0on\u00a0Port\u00a0City\u201d\u00a0with\u00a0the China Company\u00a0in charge, and\u00a0an seasoned\u00a0international\u00a0legal experts unlike limited Sri Lankan law\/Professionals\u00a0insufficiently\u00a0competent on the subject including the AG\u2019s department pressed with workload\u00a0and lack of knowledge and experience\u00a0on such\u00a0complicated\u00a0\u00a0international affairs,\u00a0and limited or no competent lawyers\u00a0which is a bitter truth we are compelled to gulp\u00a0and to take remedial measures by employing experts and competent Sri Lankan expatriates.\u00a0It is\u00a0important\u00a0to\u00a0note\u00a0that Americans are skeptical on trade and political agreements after the\u00a0victory of Donald Trump and his\u00a0trade policy is restricted\u00a0to Pro American National\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0controlled\u00a0free economy. EU is a powerhouse and the\u00a0biggest\u00a0trader with 16.5%\u00a0world\u00a0trade\u00a0in hand of free economy restricted\u00a0for the benefits of the members of the EU protected\u00a0by\u00a0EU regulations. UK moots fair trade and with the exit from Brixith\u201d the trade will be restricted and regulation based with strong nationalist mood of the sovereign Britain independent from EU. Russia is the 156th<\/span>\u00a0WTO member and the Trade is strictly rule based with freedom to the private sector with cautious approach with state restrictions. China is the\u00a0201st<\/span>\u00a0member of WTO and a\u00a0largest\u00a0trading power on inward FDI with careful and Rule Based trade policy shows that there is no unrestricted trade policy\u00a0anywhere\u00a0in the world with\u00a0cautious\u00a0approaches on entering into trade agreements unlike Sri Lanka observing Trade\u00a0Agreements\u00a0as a panacea for economic\u00a0miracles\u00a0inviting\u00a0countries\u00a0and companies for free trade utilizing our\u00a0strategic\u00a0situation, beauty, natural\u00a0resources, and now\u00a0with\u00a0freedom to purchase properties and free money movement.\u00a0Regional Trade Instrument\u00a0CHARGUBAMAS\u201d\u00a0–\u00a0the carbon\u00a0copy of EU with adoptions for Caribbean\u00a0is an ordeal models and hard bargaining for us to\u00a0learn\u00a0from when\u00a0Sidath\u00a0Rampal\u201d\u00a0once a leader of British\u00a0Guiana\u00a0and a Secretary\u00a0General\u00a0of\u00a0Commonwealth\u00a0Secretariat\u00a0fought\u00a0hard with hardest\u00a0bargaining\u00a0for his country and the\u00a0Carrabin\u00a0countries\u00a0on formation of trade\u00a0agreements\u00a0with EU and the West with protective and\u00a0pro country approaches.\u00a0Unfortunately\u00a0in Sri Lanka entering into a Trade and\u00a0Foreign\u00a0Agreements are drafted in a hurry\u00a0by\u00a0incompetent inexperience professionals at the risk of the present and future of\u00a0the\u00a0nation. It is the duty of the professionals to urge the governance to be\u00a0cautious\u00a0in\u00a0entering\u00a0into trade\u00a0agreements\u00a0which are effective and\u00a0binding the\u00a0future generations\u00a0with asymmetrical\u00a0legal\u00a0giants\u00a0awaiting to trap smaller countries in knowledge and experience, when knowledge and experience is available in the world for a price and tapping the local\u00a0and\u00a0worldwide\u00a0expatriates\u00a0ever\u00a0\u00a0prepared\u00a0to serve the nation on invitation.\u00a0Sarath7@hotmail.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarath\u00a0Wijesinghe\u00a0former Ambassador UAE and Israel\u00a0 \u00a0Trade and Foreign policy is synonymous and linked together\u00a0 Trade and Foreign policy is synonymous and directly linked to each other in the new world order where states\u00a0have given priority to trade over foreign policy interacting\u00a0with\u00a0the rest of the world, states and international organizations.\u00a0Trade\u00a0Policy is statement\u00a0of\u00a0intent and\u00a0deliberations\u00a0of a system of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sarath-wijesinghe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}