Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement

India and Sri Lanka are planning to expedite negotiations on the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA). In this regard, a delegation from India will shortly visit Colombo.

Background:

India, accounting for 23% ($ 4,268 million in 2015) of Sri Lanka’s total imports, has been negotiating with the island nation on the ETCA, an extension over the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

ETCA:

The Indo-Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement better known as ETCA (formerly CEPA) is a trade agreement. The ETCA agreement seeks to boost cooperation in technical areas, scientific expertise and research amongst institutions, boost standards of goods and services able to compete on the global market and improve opportunities for manpower training and human resource development.