Sri Lanka’s National Single Window (NSW), a unified system meant to streamline international trade on a single platform, commenced providing online facilaition from the 1st of January 2025, Deputy Minister Harshana Suriyapperuma has said, a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday (08) stated.

“During a recent meeting to share the progress made in this regard, Deputy Minister of Finance Harshana Suriyapperuma informed the chamber representatives that the Department of Imports and Exports Control has commenced providing the required services online from 1st January 2025,” the statement said.

As a signatory to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Sri Lanka has been necessitated to implement the electronic system since ratification in 2017. The Cabinet had given approval for the implementation of the system in 2022.

When Sri Lanka signed the TFA  in 2017 it had 29% of the required implementation on trade facilitation under the TFA completed. However, six years later, Sri Lanka only progressed by 2.5% to 31.5% of the implementations in 2023. 

In 2024, Sri Lanka’s progress stood at 37.4%, tailing the least developed countries (LDCs): Lao People’s Democratic Republic with 49.6% of total implementation and the Solomon Islands with 42.4%.   

Sri Lanka’s progress on the implementation of the WTO’s TFA this year sits at 58%, as a NSW supports the TFA’s commitments to trade in areas concerning transparency, efficiency, and predictability in trade processes. 

Higher WTO performance is attractive to international businesses looking for efficient and reliable trade partners, or potential locations for investments.