India, Sri Lanka to sign ETCA pact this year: Wickremesinghe

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka expects the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) with India to be signed by the end of this year, which will help strengthen economic ties, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said.

"The proposed ETCA will be signed by the end of this year... Prime Minister Modi and I have decided that we must conclude it by the end of this year," he said here at the India Economic Summit.

He impressed upon the audience the importance of this pact for Sri Lanka and South Indian states.

The five states -- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana -- have a population of 250 million and a combined GDP of nearly USD 450 billion and with the addition of Sri Lanka of 22 million people and USD 80 billion economy, the GDP "in the sub-region will be USD 500 billion", he said.

"Just imagine if we work together," the Prime Minister said, adding that ETCA has the potential to promote growth of USD 500 billion sub-regional economy.

ETCA is expected to help Sri Lanka gain better access to India's rapidly growing market. Wickremesinghe also said the economic asymmetry between the countries is going to increase in future when the "latter (India) emerges as the major global player in an increasingly multi-polar world".

He added that India and Sri Lanka FTA will be further expanded and deepened to go beyond trading in goods to cover trade in services, investments and technology co-operation.