Debt-stricken Sri Lanka signs a free trade pact with Thailand

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka has signed a trade pact with Thailand in a bid to boost trade and investment as the Indian ocean island nation is struggling to recover from its worst economic crisis that hit two year ago. The Sri Lanka Thailand Free Trade Agreement covering trade in goods, investment, custom procedures and intellectual property rights was signed in the capital Colombo on Saturday in the presence of Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. Sri Lanka began talks with Thailand on a free trade agreement in 2016. The countries’ two-way trade was worth about $352 million in 2022.