UK urges SL to ease market barriers to boost £1.6bn trade ties
The UK is keen to see Sri Lanka reduce market access barriers and improve ease of doing business and enhance transparency, which will further boost the trade and investment relationship between the two nations. The British High Commission, announcing the inaugural visit of UK Trade Envoy Lord Hannett of Everton, stressed Sri Lanka is a valuable trading partner for the UK, with bilateral trade worth approximately £1.6 billion. The trade balance is skewed in Sri Lanka’s favour, with the UK as Sri Lanka’s second largest export market. “The UK government is committed to supporting the UK companies, both first-time exporters to the region and also companies looking to grow their existing business with Sri Lanka. Through my engagements, I hope to explore ways of strengthening the UK-Sri Lanka trade relationship to enhance economic growth in both our countries,” said Lord Hannett in a statement. The envoy, who arrived on May 25, will be in Colombo till May 28. This is his first visit to Sri Lanka since he was appointed in January 2025. Lord Hannett will meet with Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and Industry and Entrepreneurship Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe. He will also meet representatives from Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board (EDB) to discuss Sri Lanka’s trade and investment landscape, opportunities for and challenges faced by the UK companies and plans on reforms and improving ease of doing business to support the shared economic growth of both countries. Lord Hannett will be engaging with wide-ranging representation from across the business community. This will include senior UK and Sri Lankan business personalities, UK transnational education providers, women business leaders, members of the committee of the Council for Business with Britain and visits to the UK companies in the market, namely London Stock Exchange Group, De La Rue, HSBC and the Haleon factory. He will also be visiting the MAS Silueta factory. In partnership with the International Trade Centre and Sri Lanka’s EDB, Lord Hannett will be launching the SheTrades webpage on the EDB website. This is a follow up to the launch of the SheTrades Sri Lanka Hub in March.
