There are no conditions to comply with in order to receive European Union’s GSP Plus concessions, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said.
The minister said so speaking at a media briefing yesterday at the Finance Ministry.
He said that Sri Lanka would be entitled for GSP Plus concessions within a period of one and a half months. There would be a 11 percent tax exemption for the products exported under GSP Plus concessions and therefore Sri Lanka would economically benefit by over US$ 1.4 Billion, the minister added. The Minister pointed out that Sri Lanka had lost the GSP Plus concession, due to the misconduct of the previous regime and the credit for regaining it should go to President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Minister Karunanayake also said, “the Southern Development Project had been implemented, while the final agreement on the Hambantota Port Project would be signed before the end of January.”
Lands for the 15,000 acre project in Hambantota would not be selected from any populated area, the Minister added.