Lanka exports to France top Euro 470 Mn mark in 2025

Bilateral trade between France and Sri Lanka stood at 556 million  Euros in 2025,with French exports to Sri Lanka amounting to 85 million Euros, while French imports from Sri Lanka reached 470 million Euros.

This resulted in a bilateral trade deficit of 385 million Euros, Remi Lambert, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka told the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka organized Meet the Ambassador program held in Colombo on Tuesday (28). For the first two months of 2026, French exports to Sri Lanka stood at 11.8 million Euros and French imports from Sri Lanka at 62.2 million Euros. France absorbs around 2% of Sri Lanka’s exports and EU accounts for 21% of Sri Lanka’s annual exports which underlines the importance of the European and EU market for Sri Lankan producers and is the second largest export market after the US.

Lambert said Lanka has significant economic potential through diversification, value addition and integration into European value chains. However there are four main reasons for cautious optimism.  He said the lifting of import restrictions should support trade recovery and a very important point to have investors who want to re-export their products. Therefore there needs to be more flexibility for importing material to Sri Lanka. Secondly, uncertainty around US trade policy may encourage Sri Lankan exporters to diversify further towards Europe, including France. Third, the bilateral relationship already rests on real corporate and goes through fresh investment and fourth, there is room to diversify beyond the current concentration of flows.

The ambassador said the most promising areas for further development of Sri Lankan exports seem to be in higher value textile and apparel, especially with greater attention to quality and sustainability.  He said Sri Lanka was a major producer in terms of high-end textiles, and that it is an asset for the country and very important to the textile industry and requested to continue this trend of quality and sustainability, and pay attention to the European market with emphasis on sustainability. 

The ambassador said bilateral trade is not only about statistics, it’s about firms, supply chains, investment decisions, confidence and also narrative and stories. The international trading environment is marked by a very high uncertainty. The first major reason is the continued volatility in US trade policy and the impact of the Middle East conflict is already being felt through disrupting shipping, higher energy prices, and greater uncertainty for businesses and investors in many parts of the world and not only countries such as Sri Lanka, which are deeply connected to the Middle East.

Lambert also said the current GSP+ framework will end after 2027 and to obtain free access to the biggest consumer market in the world Sri Lanka will have to comply with 27 international conventions.

Source: Daily news