On July 18, the governments of Singapore and Sri Lanka signed a statement on the opening of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore would be beneficial to Sri Lanka because it would result in more opportunities with Sri Lanka.

With this free trade agreement, Sri Lanka will be able to  substantially increase volume of exports in Singapore and at the same time it would welcome the industrialists in Singapore to set up their production facilities in Sri Lanka and make use of the resources they have.

Once concluded, the agreement would pave the way to lower barriers to trade and would create more confidence for the companies to commit the investment activity.