South Korean envoy seeks improved bureaucratic efficiency in trade facilitation

By Kelum Bandara   

South Korean Ambassador Miyon Lee emphasized yesterday that Sri Lanka should concentrate on upgrading its trade facilitation system while identifying the sequencing.   

Making her remarks during a roundtable discussion organized by the Pathfinder Foundation in Colombo, she said bureaucratic matters—from Customs clearance to tariff lines, licensing, and registration—should be streamlined.   

“These are very important bureaucratic matters. It is going to be very important whether you will be able to implement all the obligations that have been laid out under the WTO (World Trade Organization) agreements,” she said. She was responding to a question in this regard. She also said that the single window is part of the overall trade architecture that Sri Lanka has to follow.  “I think that also follows with the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiations. I realize that, of course, the Ministry of Commerce is right now in charge of the FTA negotiations. From Korea’s experience, when we had the financial crisis in 1997, we only pursued WTO negotiations. FTA negotiations came after the financial crisis,” she said.  >>A2