Prime Minister was making a special statement in the Parliament yesterday (23) added that the agreement will not be a threat to local professionals since the agreement will not provide any provision for Indian professionals to work in Sri Lanka. Apart from India, Sri Lanka will sign trade and economic agreements with China, US, Pakistan and a few other European and Asian countries in due course.

"As an outcome of all these economic and trade agreements, it has been proposed to increase the export income from US $ 1 billion to US $5 billion over the next five-year period. Besides, these agreements will be a great boon to create one million jobs within the next five years as pledged in the election period, "he said.

The Prime Minister said that the ETCA will not cause any disadvantage to our professionals.

He noted that the ETCA will regulate the present transactions between the two countries. "A considerable number of Indians are engaging in various professions in Sri Lanka today. Once the agreement is signed, such transactions will be regulated" he said. Speaking on the GSP Plus, he said that the country will probably receive the GSP Plus by this year.

The government would not allow any international agreement to fill the pockets of politicians, he said.


“We now need to strengthen economic ties with the rest of the world. The battle is here. While the economic team domestically fixes internal problems, our job is to take Sri Lanka across the globe to build trade and investment ties, help economic growth, liberalize the economy, and open the doors for local enterprises to move overseas and get investments from the diaspora,” he said.