Sri Lanka pledges support for Commonwealth small states trade finance facility

Apr 18, 2018 (LBO) -  Sri Lanka pledged financial contribution to setup the Small States Trade Financial Facility, In order to help Small States get access to global markets. On the margins of the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the United Kingdom.  Mangala Samaraweera, minister of finance signed this agreement on behalf of Sri Lanka. Initiated at the CHOGM 2013 Summit in Colombo, the Commonwealth recognised the importance of trade finance for the development of Small States and introduced this innovative blended finance support totalling US 5 million dollars. It is expected that commonwealth Small States will have access to US $ 300m of incremental trade finance over a three year period from this programme. Sri Lanka’s pledge towards this scheme reflects our commitment towards espousing the values and the spirit of this organization in assisting the more vulnerable members in the Commonwealth to develop their economies whose populations productive capacity and domestic markets are limited. The other countries supporting this endeavour wereIndia,  Mauritius and Malta also by pledging financial commitment towards this initiative.