The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Pakistan has brought a favourable trade balance for Sri Lanka , according to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ijaz Abbasi, according to a news report in the website thenews.com. Previously, the balance was in favour of Islamabad .

The FTA signed on August 1, 2002 came into force on June 12, 2005. The trade between the two countries has almost doubled since then. It was worth US $ 170 million at the time the FTA came into force. By January 2007 it had grown to US $ 270 million. Representatives of the two countries met in Islamabad and decided on January31, 2008 to expand the FTA in order to increase bilateral trade to US $ 1 billion.