COLOMBO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka pledged financial contribution to the Small States Trade Financial Facility of the Commonwealth to support the small states to access global markets, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has signed an agreement for this purpose on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London on Tuesday.

The move was initiated at the CHOGM Summit held in Colombo in 2013.

"It is expected that the Commonwealth Small States will have access to 300 million USD of incremental trade finance over a three-year period from this program. As an anchor investor, Sri Lanka has donated more than 1.5 million USD towards this fund since 2015," the ministry said.

Samaraweera said Sri Lanka's pledge towards this scheme reflects the Sri Lankan government's commitment to espousing the values and the spirit of the organization.

Other countries supporting this endeavour by pledging financial commitment include India, Mauritius and Malta.