Unemployment rate declines - Mahen Dayananda

Sarath Malalasekera

Unemployment in Sri Lanka has been brought down to 6.0 per cent (Excluding the North & Eastern Provinces), which is the lowest on record going back over a long period of time. In fact, there is a shortage of labor in quite a few important sectors of the economy at present.

It is encouraging that Infrastructure requirements are being addressed on a far more urgent and pro-active basis by the Government, said the outgoing Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Mahen Dayananda at the 167th Annual general meeting at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.

“Adequate infrastructure is an absolute ‘sine - qua - non’ if our economy is to keep pace with the rest of Asia and indeed the developing world. The development of the South Harbor in Colombo, the port of Hambantota, the Upper Kotmale and Norocholai Power Projects and the road network, as a whole, are important examples and should be commended,” he added.

“Our efforts at ensuring the establishment of the Constitutional Council have, sadly, not met with success. As a result, issues connected with Good Governance and the Law and Order situation in the country remain unaddressed. We in the Chamber, will continue in our efforts to focus on these two issues of significant importance in relation to the future development of our country.

This initiative is consistent with our absolute desire to focus on the urgent need for the formulation of a durable political settlement which would be acceptable to all communities living in Sri Lanka.”

“Towards this objective, we have interacted on a regular basis with the Government of Sri Lanka, civil society and the international community to drive home the message that peace coupled together with a durable political settlement will provide a platform for private entrepreneurship to flourish.

This, in turn, will have the desired effect on our economy and we are confident that the compelling issues of poverty, social equality and human rights will surely be addressed through this important initiative” he said.

Airing his views on the inflation he said that it has reared its ugly head, in no uncertain manner, over the past 12 months. Last year reference was made to an Annual figure of 13.1 per cent.

“Today, with inflation fast approaching 28 per cent this issue has developed into a major and unwelcome challenge for most businesses. This phenomenon has primarily been fuelled by the ever-increasing price of oil and the rising cost of food. Beyond these two factors, Inflation has also resulted from burgeoning Government expenditure an area that should be addressed on an urgent and immediate basis.

Commodities have performed admirably over the past twelve months. Tea has led the way and total earnings from this sector amounted to US$ 1.2 billion in year 2007. Rubber also had an excellent year with export earnings of US$.593 million in year 2007.

Overseas remittances into Sri Lanka continue to grow and amounted to a little over US$.2.5 billion in 2007. This inflow, to a large extent, assisted in financing the ever-increasing expenditure on the import of oil. The Apparel sector continues to perform on a satisfactory basis with the primary focus on several leading international brands being manufactured in Sri Lanka.

“For too long, we have neglected the importance of Agriculture and the sooner we approach this important economic activity on a serious and structured basis, the better it will be, for our citizens.”

“We are painfully aware of Energy prices relentlessly driving the cost of food, commodities and services even higher. It is quite obvious that we can no longer rely exclusively on fossil fuel and hydropower for the generation of Energy. We need to focus on Solar and Wind Power as a matter of great urgency.”

Jayampathi Bandaranayake was elected as the 87th Chairman.