Sri Lanka and the United States have agreed on an action plan to deepen trade ties between the two countries, including more use of American preferential tariff arrangements, in their latest round of talks.
The agreement came at an inter-sessional meeting of the US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting held on September 1, 2016, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Joint Action Plan aims at reaching its goals over a span of five years, a US embassy statement said.
The Action Plan is based on specific proposals submitted by Sri Lanka on improving export competiveness, technical and financial assistance, the role of women in trade, developing new markets and regional services, promoting greater business interaction, and help for capacity building of small businesses.
At Thursday’s talk, both sides agreed on a wide-ranging implementation plan to provide for greater utilisation of US tariff preference arrangements and additional information on possible mechanisms to obtain preferential  market access, the statement said.
They also agreed on a US-Sri Lanka Business Opportunities Conference, on support for youth entrepreneurs, to enhance Sri Lankan capacity to export food items to the United States, and further mechanisms to support Sri Lanka’s goal to serve as a regional services hub