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by Ravi Ladduwahetty

Generate 1,500 new jobs within the next three months, Finance Minister K.N. Choksy told thirty-five CEOs of commercial banks, the non-banking financial sector and the stock brokering community at the Treasuy auditorium on Tuesday.

The private sector also responded positively and pledged to place a set of new proposals before the Minister for approval and implementation within the next two weeks after discussing them.

Explaining the present economic backdrop, the Minister told the meeting that this was an integral part of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's vision of creating 25,000 new jobs in accordance with the Regaining Sri Lanka Program and the achievement of the target should not be difficult in the light of the expansion of the entire economy and the business sector in the present economic backdrop.

The Minister told the business community that the private sector had enjoyed the resilience and soundness of the prevailing peace conditions to grow and to expand and that the Government has afforded the private sector considerable tax incentives and investment opportunities in furtherance of its policies to the private sector. The bank interest rates have been reduced and the exchange rates have been stabilised which assisted the companies to increase their profits, the Minister told the business community.

He said the private sector had a reciprocal obligation by the Government to pass on the benefits of the expansion in the economy that the state has brought about which they have benefited by. While acknowledging the profit building was heartening to note, the Minister said that the time was rife for the justifiable increase in the employment, in the urban and rural areas.

He stressed that the need existed for the increase in employment opportunities and unless this demand was met, the country would invariably slip back into the days of socialism and nationalisation, much to its detriment.

"Our literacy rate is as high as 90 percent, which is far above any country in the region. Our people are alive to their economic and social claims to a better quality of life.

Now, not let us leave room for the repetition of events of 1971 and 1988/1989, he said.

The Minister also called upon the business community to provide immediate employment opportunities for university graduates and also develop the areas of vocational training and job oriented training in the rural areas.

Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte told the meeting that the Government had already laid the foundation for several training programs and that the private sector should involve themselves in the programs which would enhance their capacity.

DFCC Bank Director/CEO Nihal Fonseka said that his bank had already started training courses for graduates and that those found suitable will be found employment at the end of the training. They will be absorbed by the bank while the DFCC Bank will endeavour to find suitable slots for those who are not selected in the commercial sector, he said.

Sampath Bank Chairman Edgar Gunatunga said that his bank believed in having an efficient workforce and for that purpose, the bank will be embarking upon professionally oriented training of graduates for employment in the bank.

The Deputy General Manager of Seylan Bank said that the bank was setting aside considerable sums of money to train youth in rural areas.

A large vocational training centre had been set up in Badulla. These activities will also be set up at another similar centre in Kurunegala as well, he said.

The Chief Executives of the banks, responding to the Finance Minister, said that they have commenced vocational training programs at tremendous expense. However, they said that their computerised and automated systems had reduced the need for manpower, though the branch expansion programs had set off that deficit.

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