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Full Freedom Alliance support for private sector

Addressing leading members of the business community and representatives of international monetary institutions at the BMICH yesterday, Media and Communications Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar yesterday announced that the United Peoples Freedom Alliance was committed to private sector participation to the fullest extent and will sponsor and promote it in every possible way in order to achieve rapid economic growth for the country.

The Minister who was briefing representatives of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and the Chambers of Commerce on the economic policies of the Freedom Alliance while dispelling any fears that Alliance would hamstring business activity, signalled a new vibrant, unfettered era where strong support will be given in fostering private sector growth.

Mr. Kadirgamar said "The Alliance stands for an open mixed economy. International and national investment will be welcomed and wooed. We will encourage Tourism. We stand for a strong, accountable and clean public sector and a honest and accountable private sector. We will sponsor and promote the private sector in every possible way because it is very important to achieve rapid economic growth for our country. Growth is not possible without private sector participation to the fullest extent. That is the policy of the Alliance, that is the policy that we have agreed to implement."

The Minister of Media and Communication said it is not without significance that the first public event being held by the Freedom Alliance is this interactive discussion today with the business community in the presence of the press corps. It is an indication of the important place which in view of the Alliance the business community holds in the life of our country.

We have come to this meeting to meet you, to discuss with you your ideas, your hopes, your aspirations for the future of our country and the role that you, as the business community, wish to play in shaping our common destiny.

We have come to listen to what you have to say, to give you the assurance that we will give close attention to your ideas and your suggestions, and having heard you we will, in formulating the election manifesto of the Alliance, take into account what you have said about the future of our country.

On business matters you may have better ideas than we have. We ask you to share those ideas with us. This meeting is the first important step that the new Alliance is taking towards forging a partnership with the business community.

The Alliance believes that the private sector has a vital, even decisive, role to play not only in the economic development of the country but also in other spheres of our national life.

The Memorandum of Understanding which was signed by the two major parties that constitute the Alliance on the 20th of January and later adopted by four other parties sets out five objectives of governance. Again, it is not without significance that the economy is placed first among those five objectives.

We will lay emphasis on increasing productivity in both public and private sectors. Both will be afforded significant roles in economic development. We will promote an economy which will emphasize local production in both the agricultural and industrial sectors, encourage local farmers, entrepreneurs and industrialists and rejuvenate local companies and industries.

We will emphasize the significant role in development of efficiency and modern management, including all necessary measures to promote transparency and good governance.

We are committed to receiving and adapting global advances in modern technology with a view to opening our country to global economic progress.

This is a modern alliance in tune with the world around us. Young people are flocking to the banner of the Alliance.

The future belongs to them. We are a party of the future. We will speak for them. We will work for them. They are clever. They are eager to learn. They want to improve the quality of their lives. I request all of you to help them too.

The wealth of our country lies not in its land, not in its crops, not in its metals and minerals. It lies in our young people - our greatest treasure, our most valuable renewable asset. We are deeply and sincerely committed to solving the crushing economic problems of the vast majority of our people by granting them a variety of relief measures.

If we forget them, ignore them or marginalize them, unwittingly or by design, through ignorance, lassitude or arrogance, we will condemn our country to permanent deprivation, a desert devoid of hope.

All this means, ladies and gentlemen, that the Alliance stands for an open, mixed economy. National and international investment will certainly be welcomed, nay wooed. We will encourage tourism. We stand for a strong, accountable and clean public sector and an honest and accountable private sector.

We will sponsor and promote the private sector in every possible way because it is very important to achieve rapid economic growth for our country. Growth is not possible without private sector participation to the fullest extent. That is the policy of the Alliance, that is the policy that we have agreed to implement.

What we do not stand for and will not tolerate is corruption, unfairness and manipulation. These evils have become the curse of our economy; they have earned us a bad reputation internationally. They have drained our creative energy.

We do not stand for waste, plunder and inefficiency. We will try, indeed we will try hard, to restore within the public and private sector a sense of the need to work harmoniously to promote the national welfare. Help us to root out corruption. If as a party we fail to do so collectively then hound us out of office at the earliest opportunity.

Those individuals who wallow in corruption should be drummed out of politics. Let us be partners in that campaign. The business community will no doubt bear in mind that it takes two to make a corrupt transaction. Be not one of them.

The second objective of the Alliance relates to the restoration of ethnic harmony. The Alliance believes strongly that none of the people who have made Sri Lanka their home, none of our communities, no group or individual should suffer any discrimination on grounds of race, religion, langauge and culture. We are committed to remove totally all manifestations of differential treatment. You have our assurance on that. On the basis of equality we will guarantee fundamental human and democratic rights to all our people.

We have already made it clear, and I take this opportunity to repeat the assurances we have already given, that all the parties to this Alliance have agreed to enter into a process of political dialogue with the LTTE and all other relevant groups and communities with a view to accommodating their rights, eliminating inequality and mistrust among them and consolidating democracy.

The Alliance further agrees to go forward to a final solution and abide by the results of the negotiation process and the wish of the majority of the people for a peaceful, prosperous, fair and just society in Sri Lanka - which has no prospect of achievement unless we work together. Whatever the outcome of the election may be the Alliance will poll millions of votes.

We would reflect the hopes of those millions of our compatriots. We believe, we understand the needs and aspirations of our people. We believe that you, the business community, have the means, the experience to help to meet those needs and fulfil those aspirations. Then, let us work together, let us share what we have, let us pool our resources. Our common goal must surely be a better Sri Lanka for all our people.

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