IntroductionEconomic Overview
Asia– Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA)
The Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), formerly the Bangkok Agreement signed in 1975, is one of the Asia's oldest regional preferential trading agreements with six Participating States - Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka.
APTA is a dynamic regional agreement which has been instrumental in producing a favorable outcome to Sri Lanka. It is particularly important for Sri Lanka as it is the only trade agreement Sri Lanka partakes with China and the Republic of Korea.
At the Third Ministerial Council was held on 15th December, 2009 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, two framework agreements on Trade Facilitation and Promotion, Protection and Liberalization of Investment were signed to incorporate separate chapters in services and investments. Further concessions are envisaged at the next Round of trade negotiations, which are scheduled to launched with a view to further widening products coverage and deepening the tariff cuts and to adopt modalities for the extension of negotiations into other areas such as non-tariff measures, trade facilitation, framework agreement on services and investment and thereafter to finalise the APTA agreements.
APTA Summary of Trade Concessions
Country |
General Concessions | Special Concessions (to LDC’s) | ||
| No of Items | MOP% | No of Items | MOP % | |
| China | 1,697 | 10-50 | 161 | 50-100 |
| India | 570 | 5-30 | 48 | 40 -100 |
| Korea | 1,367 | 10- 50 | 306 | 30-100 |
| Sri Lanka | 427 | 10-50 | 72 | 10-50 |
| Bangladesh | 209 | - | 10-15 | - |