Sri Lankan products well received in the world

M.E. Jayasekera - Matara District Additional Roving Correspondent

At a symposium organised by Matara Trade and Commerce Union and held at Solis Hotel, Matara District Secretary Gamini Jayasekera addressing the gathering said that Sri Lankan products are well received in the World Market and could compete successfully with the rest of the world.

He said further that our business community is the lifeblood of Matara and their much valued co-operation after the tsunami highly commendable.

Business Managerial Adviser Deepal Sooriyarachchi making the special address stated, by the year 2015 there will be about 5000 ethnic groups in the world and by that time 50% of the people will tend to live close to urban areas. Sri Lanka too would be affected and our population is expected to rise to 600 million.

The main reason for the escalating fuel prices is due to the inflated demands of India and China. Though we have a literacy rate of 90% a considerable number of people travel abroad to serve as household helpers and as parttime casual employees.

The educated youth of the country seek employment abroad and it is seldom they return home. Today it has become the practice of developed countries to transfer environmentally harmful and out of date machinery etc to under developed countries for a small sum.

It is a fact that today capital moves at a faster rate internationally. Today we are proud to say that world has got over slavery for good, but yet labour is sold cheap and this is happening on a large scale.

It is true that there is economic cooperation between India and Sri Lanka but one must be vigilant of the beneficial and harmful influence it may cause.

Today the developing countries are keen on service economy, trying to find countries offering cheap labour to float their business ventures - the local apparel companies are an example.

Whereas prominence should be given to our own handicrafts it is mostly Indian makes that we market here in Sri Lanka.

He further stated, "We lack dedication in our work. No attempts is made to adjust ourselves to present day trends in the business world and always try to depend on traditional methods, but there are new opportunities in the new world of business to be picked up."