NTUC determined to foil govt. bid to sign ECTA

26 February 2016 08:05 pm

Chairman of the National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) K.D. Lalkantha stated that they would defeat the government’s move to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECTA) if it is to be finalized despite opposition from various quarters.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo, Mr. Lalkantha said; “Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said the present regime were going to sign the ETCA at any cost as they had the the numbers in Parliament. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime was more powerful than Mr. Wickremesinghe’s. Therefore I suggest that he look at what happened to the previous regime and learn from their mistakes when running the affairs of government.”

Further he pointed out that at present the amount of foreign goods coming into the country has meant that there was very little space for the local manufacturers, adding, the local services sector would also suffer if foreign parties were allowed to enter into the local market. “Even though the government had assured us that there won’t be any harm done to professionals, it is crystal clear that ECTA will be a threat to the local services sector. If the government signs the ETCA the local services sector would be also controlled by foreigners,” he added. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)

 

 

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