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Kingsley T. Wickramaratne said that President Chandrika should be given a strong PA government if this country is to progress.

"If it's a hung Parliament we would be back to square one and every year there would be elections which would impede the forward march of this country. As President Chandrika Kumaratunga says, the biggest barrier to progress, peace and security in the country is the J. R. Jayewardene Constitution. Therefore we should give the President a strong People's Alliance Government so that the amendments to the Constitution could be carried out to attain twin objectives of peace and progress. If we leave the legacy of this Constitution to our children, our children's children will castigate us".

Wickramaratne speaking of the economy also said that the UNP had no right to criticise the economic policy of the PA government because it was Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge who restored the economy after 1994.

"During the UNP regime, tea factories were closed down, some factories were converted into warehouses and go-downs. In 1995, the President sent me as Minister of Trade on a marketing mission with the private sector, and we were able to recapture lost markets such as Russia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, UAE, Libya and the CIS countries. We were also able to consolidate our presence in emerging markets such as Chile, Argentina and Colombia while maintaining our traditional markets. Moreover, we were able to get better prices, and our green leaf suppliers now get over Rs. 25 to 27 per kilo.

"In the past few years, world economic pillars of South East Asia, known as the Tiger economies, have been severely shaken and world economic turbulence has caused countries to go in to recession. Hundreds of banks and financial institutions were to be closed, thousands were thrown out of employment and the currencies of these countries drastically devalued.

"At this very time, the price of crude oil rose from US$8.00 per barrel to US$36.00 per barrel. Every country in the globe was affected. Despite all this, Sri Lanka recovered in no time owing to the prudent, competitive, liberalized economic polices Chandrika Bandaranaika Kumaratunge as Finance Minister.

"Our total exports from 1994 to 2000 had an average growth of 10.65% in US dollar terms. Our per capita income rose to US$ 856, the highest in the region.

The number of exporters and re-exporters grew from 2252 in 1994 to 6560 in the year 2000. Unemployment dropped from 13.2% in 1994 to 7.7% in 2000. Non-traditional exports had an uninterrupted growth from US$ 2,641 million in 1994 to US$ 4,697 million in 2000. Over the last five years, telephone connections grew from 185,000 connections to 1.36 million connections resulting in an average teledensity of 4 in every 100.

From 1994, the number of personal computers in the country rose to 300,000 and about 80,000 new personal computers are imported every year. This is mainly due to the PA government's policy of removing import duty on IT equipment and other concessions given to the IT industry. Foreign investment for the last 3 years in the field of IT software development recorded Rs. 1.44 billion.

"During the last 7 years, the economy trickled down to the small and medium enterprises. For example, the export of pepper fetched Rs. 400 per kg, and arecanut Rs. 1.75 per nut. In the year 2000, spices and allied products recorded for the first time Rs. 6 billion in exports. Value addition in rubber products, fibre and coconut products had up-market opportunities.

"The only leader who can bring peace, security and prosperity is Chandrika Mathiniya. If we have peace tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow Sri Lanka would be twice as strong as the economies of Singapore and Dubai".

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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