France views Sri Lanka’s application for the upcoming round of GSP+ preferential trade access to the European Union with a positive outlook, the Chairperson of the France-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate said during bilateral talks in Colombo.
Senator Vanina Paoli-Gagin, leading a French Senate delegation, made the remarks on Monday (April 21) at a meeting with Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath. NewsFirst reported the substance of the exchange on Thursday.
Paoli-Gagin called for further expansion of Sri Lanka’s capacity to export high-quality garment products to European markets. Garments remain Sri Lanka’s largest export category, and GSP+ renewal is considered essential to sustain competitiveness with Bangladesh and Vietnam in the EU.
Herath told the delegation that the government treats all communities equally and has taken concrete steps on democratic principles and human rights — the core conditionalities attached to GSP+. He thanked France for its support for post-Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction and debt restructuring, and highlighted the recent launch of Air France flights to Colombo as an opportunity to grow French tourist arrivals.
The two sides also discussed Indian Ocean cooperation, including the Regional Centre for Maritime Studies and the BBNJ ocean biodiversity agreement, as well as capacity building and AI regulation. Paoli-Gagin said invitations would be extended for the Foreign Minister and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to visit France.
France is the second EU member state to publicly signal support for Sri Lanka’s GSP+ renewal this cycle. Industry Minister Sunil Handunneththi separately announced in Vienna that an Austrian Trade Mission will visit Sri Lanka in mid-September.
