Press Release on ETCA by National Joint Committee

Press Release on the Proposed
Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement [ETCA] with India

The National Joint Committee wishes to place before the public of Sri Lanka, and also the Government of Sri Lanka, why we feel that it will be nationally detrimental if the Government enters into an Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India to enable liberalization of services, in the context where (a) the objectives and strategic targeting as to how Sri Lanka aims at benefiting from it, the essential precursor to any successful bilateral negotiation, does not seem adequately defined as yet, (b) the Sri Lankan regulatory and quality assurance machinery seems unprepared and incapable of preventing an eventual low quality influx, and (c) the process that is being adopted in this regard by the Government of Sri Lankan does not appear transparent, professional and patriotic.

1. Sri Lanka is a country with strong historical, cultural and national identity and heritage, and therefore the policy makers as well as every citizen have to be concerned at all times to preserve and uphold such heritage and values in it. Our nation cannot be, and should not be, simplified to a “pola” (or “market”) where there is no belongingness and those “sellers” and “buyers” do business during the day and vanish in the evening, with no deep rooted belongingness to the place. We Sri Lankans should look at all bilateral or multilateral negotiations through a patriotic and national development angle, and our leaders are duty-bound for that.

2. Sri Lanka needs to, at all times, be concerned about the political & economic leverage India exerts over Sri Lanka which could eventually undermine the national security and sovereignty of Sri Lanka in time to come.

3. With a steady inflow of foreign labor through such bilateral liberalizations, would we not risk facing the same difficulties we underwent in the past? Do we not remember how the British brought in lakhs of Indian labor, and how socio-culturally, politically and economically irreparable the negative impacts of it on our nation and its future?

4. Sri Lanka should be concerned about the possibility of cheap, but not the best grade, Indians identifying as “professionals” coming to Sri Lanka in the liberalized disciplines (in, say, Maritime/ports and IT sectors, which are seemingly targeted). This could

(i) Cause unemployment among Sri Lankan professionals in the relevant fields,
(ii) Dampen salaries, causing brain-drain on the one hand, and discouragement of investment in professional skill development activities in Sri Lanka on the other, and
(iii) Induce substandard workmanship in the products turned out, thus leading to longer term negative impacts on our international competitiveness.

5. When legal, regulatory and quality assurance mechanisms are not in place, or inadequate, and when necessary measures to safeguard the nation, nationals and their businesses have not been implemented or developed, Sri Lanka going to sign any agreement that facilitates a country with over 1.3 billion people to freely enter Sri Lanka, engage in service provision, set up businesses and other ventures, bring their own labor and staff and reside in Sri Lanka, would be nothing but suicidal. More so, because

(i) India has very stringent rules that prevent foreigners working there, which constrains any opportunity for Sri Lankans to have access to Indian market for service provision, and
(ii) Any legal or regulatory mechanisms brought in by Sri Lanka subsequent to signing an agreement are likely to be invalid in regard to the purview of the agreement signed.

6. Regulatory and safety measures should be, and could be, de-facto implementable, and it is not enough to have those in books and enforced de-juré. The Government should demonstrate to our citizens that it could well handle any violations, and contraventions and correct those with Indian authorities, before deepening its present bilateral engagements with India, as per the stipulations under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). The problem of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), port restrictions, floor-pricing practices, inter-provincial border tariffs in India, etc, which harm potential Sri Lankan exports to India, should be addressed and resolved before any negotiations on CEPA or ETCA. The Government should demonstrate its capacity of taking legal action and deporting those Indian laborers who are said to be working in Sri Lanka violating visa conditions, and preventing illegal fishing by Indian trawlers in the Northern seas. Unless and until such capacity is developed, entering into deeper and more complex service agreements could not be expected to serve any purpose towards Sri Lankan national interest.

7. It is also important to understand for whose interest this ETCA being canvassed? If it is for Sri Lankan benefit, the Government should publicly announce what it aims at benefitting, and how such benefits would be secured. If India is pushing for the agreement, it is likely to be shaped with an Indian bias, and thus, it would be to the interest of our future generations that the Government and its policy makers extensively discuss the parameters that may be involved, with the participation of relevant industrialists, professional bodies and trade-unions, prior to working out details of a bilateral liberalization framework.

8. We also are concerned because it looks uncertain as to why Sri Lankan policy makers appear to have not thought of alternative avenues to address the problems that may have been caused by the so called shortage of local skills within any profession. Why cannot the policy makers turn towards national education and training, which could develop, in a period of a few years, if not in few months, the necessary pool of Sri Lankan human resources in any discipline? Why cannot any such shortage be used to promote value added ventures in skill development? Why cannot any temporary shortage be addressed through limited and identified employment contracts and visas, for which the procedures and provisions are already in place? Cannot such be adopted, instead of rushing in to an ETCA which could be risky at many angles?

9. The GOSL is therefore well advised to make the process and negotiations towards this ETCA, or any other similar agreement, transparent. This is because

(i) Non-involvement of professionals and experts in the respective disciplines could lead to omitting or missing important elements, leading to a sub-optimal framework of agreement, and ending up with negatively impacts on the entire economy, its self-reliance and long-term sustenance;
(ii) It would be a violation of the citizens’ fundamental rights if secret agreements that are likely to nullify or threaten the sovereignty, national security and distort the demographic structure of the country, and
(iii) Bypassing transparency is contrary to the “good governance” agenda of the current regime.

10. We wish to emphasize that it would be unethical for the GOSL to act as if the concerns of the people and the professionals do not matter and their decision to sign the agreement will prevail regardless. We strongly advise against such arbitrary conduct and such authoritarian attitude, which is likely to politically backfire.

11. The ECTA Agreement must be tabled in Parliament and approved by a 2/3 majority for it to have the force of law as per Article 157 of the 1978 Constitution.

Article 157 states: “Where Parliament by resolution passed by not less than two-third of the whole number of Members of Parliament (including those not present) voting in its favor, approves as being essential for the development of the national economy, any Treaty or Agreement between the Government of any foreign State for the promotion and protection of the investments in Sri Lanka of such foreign State, its nationals, …such Treaty or Agreement shall have the force of law in Sri Lanka and otherwise than in the interests of national security no law shall be enacted or made, and no executive or administrative action shall be taken, in contravention of the provisions of such Treaty or Agreement”.
Updating regulatory and quality mechanisms in Sri Lanka would relate to similar mechanisms with the Union Government of India. However, any dealings would be with respective States of India. Each State would have its own Statutes. If regulatory and quality mechanisms do not meet the requirements of State, Sri Lanka would not be able to appeal to the Union Government because India is a Federal State for all intents and purposes.

Whether the ECTA, the Bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka, or any other, they should be considered ONLY after an Agreement between the two countries is signed on the issue of fishing within Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Therefore, all negotiations should cease until this burning issue is resolved.

Last, but not least, we remind the government that it is negotiating with a country that historically has been attempting to annex Sri Lanka, a country that created terrorism to destabilize Sri Lanka and a country that used arm-twisting ways to change our constitution violated our air space by force and sent their troops upon our people.

All its dealings with Sri Lanka has not been with good intent but of diabolical nature to further her foot hold and strategic leverage in this country. We can, or should, never forget this. in the context of current geo-politics, the long term interest of annexation by India might be considered even more important and should supersede all other commercial considerations.

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