News

SL to set up International Trade Office

Published

12 months ago

December 22, 2022

editor

On the directions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Government decides to reorganize the existing conventional institutional set-up and newly establish the International Trade Office (ITO) to interconnect all the relevant institutions and synergize their work to obtain maximum output from the external trade sector to the National Economy.

Realizing the untapped economic potential of trade and investment via linking with regional and global value chains is a major element of the Government’s economic revival programme. Towards this end, the ambition is to first integrate into South Asia and then expand to the east; China, Thailand and Indonesia linking to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which consists of 30% of the world’s GDP, trade and population.

To achieve this overarching objective, there is no alternative but to formulate a strong institutional structure to manage Sri Lanka’s presence in international trade while removing the existing compartmentalization of trade-related institutions and eliminating the gaps in the approaches taken by multiple institutions. The Government has decided to reorganize the existing conventional institutional set-up and newly establish the International Trade Office (ITO). ITO will interconnect all the relevant institutions and synergize their work to obtain the maximum output from the external trade sector to the National Economy.

The ITO, once it is established through an Act of Parliament will be headed by an Ambassador of International Trade, supported by an eminent group of advisors who has expertise in international trade and the core structure of the institution will consist of designated officers from all the relevant institutions attached to it. The National Trade Negotiation Committee which undertakes the Free Trade Negotiations will also be an integral part of the ITO. As announced in the 2023 Budget Speech, the ITO will initially be established under the Ministry of Finance and subsequently, it will be amalgamated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement Sri Lanka’s foreign trade development policy across the world with enhanced and effective coordination.

Until the establishment of the ITO is fully completed, the core staff of the institution have been built up at the Presidential Secretariat immediately to start functioning. Accordingly, taking immediate measures to operationalize Sri Lanka – Singapore FTA (SLSFTA) which entered into force in May 2018 but has not been operationalized till now, will be the first task of the ITO. The Joint Committee set up in accordance with SLSFTA comprising designated officials from both countries will meet in January 2023 and finalize the modalities to agree on operationalization.

In parallel, by next January the ITO will resume negotiations of the three FTAs with India, China and Thailand. The Chief Negotiator and the National Trade Negotiation Committee (NTNC) comprising Sub Committees on specific areas have been appointed by the Cabinet for this task. In parallel, the government plans to resume negotiation of the three FTAs with India, China and Thailand. The 12th round of negotiations with India, the 7th round of negotiations with China and the 3rd round of negotiations with Thailand will be held during the first two months of 2023. It is planned to complete these negotiations possibly within the next year. Stakeholder consultations will be held with relevant Chambers/associations before and after of every round of negotiation to make them aware of the status of negotiations as they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the FTAs with enhanced market access. Already, the first stakeholder awareness programme was held on Nov 17 of 2022. Moreover, simultaneous actions will also be taken through this office to revive the PTA negotiations with Bangladesh and Indonesia.

News

Proposals to reduce school grades from 13 to 12

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2023

editor

The Ministry of Education disclosing the proposed new educational reforms stated that it is intended to reduce school grades from 13 to 12.

This was disclosed on 01.12.2023 at the time of presenting the progress of the year 2023 and plans for the year 2024 for the budget of the Ministry of Education by Dr. Susil Premajayantha for the Ministers and Members of Parliament.

Accordingly, the educational authorities stated that through the proposed new education reforms, every child will be given the opportunity to finish school in 17 years. Accordingly, pre-school education is classified as 4 years old, primary section 1-5, junior section 6-8 and senior section 9 to 12.

Simplify Grade 5 scholarship

While it has been proposed to give a certain percentage of marks from school-based evaluations and a certain percentage from exams for the Grade 5 scholarship exam, the Ministry of Education has also proposed to simplify the Grade 5 scholarship exam and eliminate competition.

O/Ls in Grade 10, A/Ls in Grade 12

Furthermore, through the proposed new education reforms, the Ministry of Education has proposed to conduct the Ordinary Level examination in Grade 10 and the Advanced Level examination is scheduled for grade 12. It has also been decided to reduce the number of subjects for O/L’s from 9 to 7. Officials representing the Ministry of Education stated that among those 7 subjects, it has been proposed to make it mandatory to study three new subjects; Information and Communication Technology (ICT), technical and professional skills and religious and values.

The officials of the Ministry of Education, who pointed out that more than eighty thousand (80,000) students fail in the ordinary level examination in a year, have suggested that no child will fail through the new education reforms and that all children who passed the ordinary level examination should be given the opportunity to study vocational training courses.

For that, A-level subjects have been classified into two categories as academic education and vocational education and a path has been prepared for every child to obtain a degree. The Ministry of Education also pointed out that two new subjects have been added under academic studies by increasing the current subjects from 6 to 8. Furthermore, the officials of the Ministry stated that the children will receive the opportunity to obtain education through 10 subject areas under practical studies and through that, the children will get the opportunity to obtain degrees by going through vocational fields.

The Ministry pointed out that administrative restructuring is also taking place in the education service. The number of existing educational zones will increase from 100 to 122 and the total number of ten thousand one hundred and twenty-six (10,126) schools will be classified as cluster schools of one thousand two hundred and twenty (1220). All the existing national schools will be a flagship school in a cluster of schools as flagship schools at the provincial level.

Officials of the Ministry said that 517.05 billion rupees have been allocated for the Ministry of Education in this year’s budget for the year 2024. Of this, two thousand million rupees have been allocated for providing school textbooks, six million rupees for school uniforms, and two thousand five hundred million rupees for providing school shoes to seven hundred twenty-eight thousand four hundred and eighty (728,480) children. About 1.07 million school children are currently being given lunch and the same number is ready to be given to 1.5 million children in the year 2024, the Ministry of Education officials said.

News

Upul Tharanga to chair cricket selection committee

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2023

editor

Sports Minister Harin Fernando today (04) announced that Upul Tharanga will replace Pramodya Wickramasinghe as Chairman of the Cricket Selection Committee.

The minister added that 10 names have already been recommended as selectors and that a new selection committee would be appointed soon.

News

SLC complains to CIABOC over ex-sports minister

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2023

editor

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) says that they have formally lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in Sri Lanka against Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe MP over the alleged misuse of funds provided by SLC to the National Sports Fund for the development of various other sports in Sri Lanka.

A statement issued by the SLC states :

The decision to file this complaint stems from the concern that Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe MP has not appropriately disclosed the utilization of funds allocated by SLC for the intended purposes.

This move comes in the wake of a discernible disparity between the information disclosed to the media by Mr. Ranasinghe MP and the response received by SLC under a Right to Information (RTI) application, outlining the specifics of the expenditures made.

SLC wishes to emphasize the importance of maintaining the integrity of financial transactions and ensuring that funds are utilized for their designated purposes and the said formal complaint filed with the Bribery Commission underscores SLC’s dedication to upholding the highest standards of governance and ethics within the realm of sports administration.

SLC trusts that the Bribery Commission will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter to ascertain the facts and take appropriate action as necessary and Sri Lanka Cricket will continue to collaborate with relevant authorities to ensure a fair and just resolution to this issue, as part of its ongoing commitment to the promotion and advancement of sports in Sri Lanka.