SL-Singapore FTA will affect our professionals: Wimal

2 May 2018 04:16 pm

National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader and MP Wimal Weerawansa said today the recently signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore was done in an illegal manner and that it would adversely affect Sri Lankan professionals.

He told a news briefing this treaty would provide ample room for not only Singaporean professionals but also those of India, China and Malaysia to freely enter the Sri Lankan job market.

“When professionals from Singapore and other Asian countries invade the Sri Lankan job market, our professionals will lose opportunities to sustain themselves,” the MP said.

“Although the FTA has been signed without the Cabinet approval, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama had shrewdly prepared Cabinet papers to show that it has been approved by the Cabinet. That is why we say that it has been signed in an illegal manner. The minister is a confidant of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who is fond of acting according to others tell him,” he said.

The MP said government attempts to sign the Indo-Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) would also be achieved through the FTA with Singapore as it provided room for Indian professionals to engage in Sri Lankan job market.(Sheain Fernandopulle)