KALADAN NEWS

Dated- 9th March 2003.

Burma, 4 other countries for freetrade agreement

Chittagong, Mach 09: Commerce ministers from five

countries around the Bay of Bengal on 7th March,

called for a free-trade pact to boost regional

economic cooperation, according to AFP, Colombo.

The ministers from Burma, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka

and Thailand set up a group of experts to work out the

details and ensure a framework treaty by February next

year, Sri Lanka’s Commerce Minister said.

“ We are positive that we can move towards an FTA

(free-trade agreement),” Lanka’s Commerce Minister

told reporters after the one-day ministerial meet.

“ We are looking to the future and we see a lot of

possibilities.”

The BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri lanka,

Thailand Economic Cooperation) ministers also agreed

to look at relaxing visa restrictions for

businesspeople traveling between member States.

They will also ask their ambassadors to work closely

in Geneva to ensure a common position on World Trade

Organization (WTO) issues, Lanka’s Commerce Minister

said.

Editor

Kaladan Press Network.