COLOMBO, July 8: Sri Lanka expressed the hope on Monday that a free trade agreement (FTA) with Pakistan would be in effect by September.

“Our target should be to conclude the FTA within the time-frame stipulated (by September),” said Ravi Karunanayake, Sri Lanka’s minister of consumer affairs.

He was talking to Pakistani Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood. President Pervez Musharraf is expected to pay a three-day visit to the island nation later this month.

Karunanayake said the bilateral agreement was being expedited because of the slow progress in creating a South Asia-wide trade pact.

He said trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan had more than doubled in the past decade, from 3.3 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($347 million) in 1990 to 8.8 billion ($916m) last year.

But he said Sri Lanka had a trade deficit to Pakistan of 4.4 billion rupees.

“In this backdrop the proposed FTA can play a crucial role,” he said.

Mr Dawood is also expected to call on Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe during his stay at Colombo.—AFP