A firm assurance

Sri Lanka's firm refusal to submit itself to a special investigation to qualify itself for the GSP plus facility is perhaps the first time that a Lankan Government has had the courage to stand up to such dictates.

The Government has declared that it would not barter its sovereignty in return for a trade facility.

One recalls a similar stand taken by the Finance Minister in the United Front Government of the 70s the late Dr.N.M.Perera who too gave an unequivocal 'no' to the World Bank mandarins who wanted to subject the country to certain commitments in return for economic aid.

Addressing a news conference on Monday Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof .G.L.Peiris said the Government would not betray Sri Lanka's sovereignty to obtain economic benefits from other countries.

"We would not betray our dignity and respect," the Minister said adding that "in every sense we have the abilities to fulfil our task". The country is not overly dependent on this facility although the apparel sector will benefit if it continues.

In any case, the GSP Plus scheme is not permanent and has to be renewed every three years. The authorities are contemplating a Rs.21 billion bailout package to offset any crisis. No doubt the withdrawal of the facility covering some 7,000 items would have an impact particularly on the garment industry.

But as Prof. Peiris has stressed our exporters have already captured the global market outside the GSP Plus scheme, chiefly due to the quality of our products.

Sri Lanka has certainly come a long way in the realm of world trade and commerce from the early days of the open economy and has now moved into the big league. This is particularly so with our garment industry where many of our local entrepreneurs have gone places.

In other sectors too we have been making noteworthy progress. The recognition won by many of our exporters and captains of industry on the world stage is a strong testimony that Sri Lanka has come a long way from the days when it was a mere bit player in international markets.

As the Minister said what is at stake here is the country's sovereignty. To be asked to submit to a special investigation when we had fulfilled all the necessary criteria is unfair.

There may be moves by certain elements to thwart the progress on the war front. It is to the eternal credit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he has right along refused to be cowed down by such tactics and steered the war on the correct course unlike some of his predecessors who took all insults and barbs thrown at us lying down.

This steadfast commitment to uphold the country's territorial integrity no doubt has injected a huge morale boost to the Security Forces to conduct their mission without let or hindrance. The relentless pursuance of military action to defeat terrorism and the Government's resolve not to give into pressures have been lauded.

This may not be to the liking of certain vested interests who may try every trick at their disposal to force the country to steer a different course. This is also a time that we should strengthen links with all friendly countries and take collective action against terrorism. Our main goal as the President has often spelt out is to wipe out terror and nothing should be made to come in the way of this objective.