Sri Lanka will apply for the EU trade concession, GSP+ before the end of this year, the country's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Harsha De Silva, said when addressing the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
“Before the end of the year we will make formal application and regain GSP Plus by the middle of 2016,” he was quoted by Economy Next as saying, adding that the consensus resolution adopted at the UN Human Rights Council had "helped repair strained foreign relations".
"The government will be able to get GSP+ incentive, giving duty free access to EU markets, for the benefit of exporters," Mr De Silva added.
“There’s no point in promoting exports if the government does not have its policies right."
Earlier this year the prime minster had pledged that the concessions would be restored after September's UN Human Rights Council session.
The previous government had blamed Mr Wickremesinghe for the concessions being withdrawn, after the EU stated it was concerned over human rights abuses.
In 2010, then government Minister Dallus Alahapperuma said “the EU started questioning about labour rights, human rights and good governance after the mud-slinging campaign against the government by Ranil, Mangala and certain Tamil groups who are dreaming to establish a Transnational State of Tamil Eelam”, adding “the EU intensified pressure on Sri Lanka and decided to withdraw the trade facility after Fonseka’s white flag story that tarnished the image of our security forces and the government”.
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