ISLAMABAD: Under the expansion of Pakistan and Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSFTA), Ministry of Commerce (MoC) intends to incorporate few new chapters in the agreement.
“The said chapters are called Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and subjects of services, investment and customs cooperation will be included in PSFTA as future roadmap for making it more effective and result oriented” a well placed official source told this scribe here on Tuesday.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are linked by strong bonds of culture and history and shared perceptions on important regional and international issues. As members of the SAARC and the Non-Aligned Movement, they have made positive contributions towards creation of an environment conducive to peace and stability in the region. Both the countries have similar approach towards regional cooperation in South Asia.
Service provision is often an economic activity where the buyer does not generally, except by exclusive contract, obtain exclusive ownership of the thing purchased. The benefits of such a service, if priced, are held to be self-evident in the buyer’s willingness to pay for it. Public services are those that society (nation state, fiscal union, regional) as a whole pays for, through taxes and other means.
By composing and orchestrating the appropriate level of resources, skill, ingenuity, and experience for effecting specific benefits for service consumers, service providers participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying inventory (stock) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials.
On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require consistent service marketing and upgrading in the face of competition.
Moreover, investment is time, energy, or matter spent in the hope of future benefits actualized within a specified date or time frame. Investment has different meanings in economics and finance. In economics, investment is the accumulation of newly produced physical entities, such as factories, machinery, houses, and goods inventories. In finance, investment is putting money into an asset with the expectation of capital appreciation dividends, and/or interest earnings.
This may or may not be backed by research and analysis. Most or all forms of investment involve some form of risk, such as investment in equities, property, and even fixed interest securities which are subject, among other things, to inflation risk .It is indispensable for project inventors to identify and manage the risks related to the investment.
Similarly, Customs Cooperation sets out the terms and requirements for Members to share information in order to ensure effective customs control, while respecting the confidentiality of the information exchanged. It also allows Members flexibility in terms of establishing the legal basis for information exchange. Members may enter into or maintain bilateral, plural-lateral or regional agreements for sharing or exchanging customs information and data, including advance information.
MoC is of the view point that the inclusion of above mentioned subjects in the PSFTA can benefit both the countries which already have friendly bilateral economic and trade relations. Both the countries enjoy economies full of energy and capacitated with required requisition for robust uplift.
The economy of Sri Lanka expanded on average more than 8% annually during 2010-2011. The high growth momentum was supported by an improved macroeconomic environment, increased capacity utilization, expansion of economic activity in Northern Province and Eastern Province and enhanced external demand.
This strong growth momentum continued into the first quarter of 2012, but growth gradually moderated from the second quarter onwards in response to policy tightening and weakening global demand. GDP grew by 6.2% for the year as a whole. The deceleration in growth was mainly due to relatively lower growth of the agricultural and services sectors. On the demand side, the investment-to- GDP ratio has been improving and crossed the 30% mark in 2012.
GDP growth is expected to improve to 6.5% in 2013 due to easing of both monetary and fiscal policies, and improved performance in all major sectors, particularly the agricultural sector which suffered a setback in 2012 due to adverse weather conditions.