As the Sri Lanka Economic Association’s Annual Sessions 2012 kick off today on the theme ‘Export Growth for Sustained Development’, Ashani Abayasekara (Research Assistant – IPS) writes that trade protectionism is raising its ugly head through subtle yet substantial ways, and the Sri Lankan export sector must keep a close watch. Some of the top [...]

A new report by the Consumer Unity and Trust Society finds that if South Asia imports more from within the region instead of from outside, South Asian consumers can save around US$ 2 billion. But often consumer’s interests get sidelined in the debates on regional integration and bilateral trade deals, where the interests of political, diplomatic and business interest groups dominate the agenda.

>  By Ashani Abayasekara (Research Assistant)and Anushka Wijesinha (Research Economist) – IPS Economic freedom measures have ranked Sri Lanka above its neighbours in the region, but below some of its key competitor countries. To improve the business environment by addressing problems such as transparency, accountability, etc., there needs to be a genuine effort to involve [...]