Govt. to woo new nations for GSP

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The government is confident of an extension of the GSP Plus facility following positive discussions held with new parties on the sidelines of the United National General Assembly and statements made by the Sri Lanka EC head.
Positive sentiment was echoed by European Commission Delegation Head to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Bernard Savage at a CIMA conference inauguration on Monday night. Despite refusing to comment on the GSP deliberations since the process is on the verge of completion he nonetheless maintained that the EU has every intention of continuing its close relationship with Sri Lanka and was confident that this juncture could be negotiated to the satisfaction of both parties.
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama meanwhile stated that he had positive discussions with Spain, who will head the EU next year and several other countries including Portugal, France and UK to lobby for the extension. Referring especially to the comments made between himself and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Bogollagama insisted that the prognosis for an extension was most positive.
He also insisted that the retraction of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments and the response he has had to the Asia Corporation Dialogue summit scheduled to be held next week were all positive indications of Sri Lanka’s continued relationship with the international community.
“This seminar, which will see the presence of foreign ministers from almost 30 countries, will be the largest held in Sri Lanka since the Non Aligned Movement summit in 1976. Moreover, it is perhaps the first time in history that Sri Lanka is simultaneously holding the chairmanship of four international bodies including the impending Asia Corporation Dialogue summit,” he said.

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