Private sector role recognized
The Government has given many clear indications of recognizing the
role of the private sector, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Dr
Anura Ekanayake said at the 171st Annual General Meeting which was held
recently.
The appointment of several distinguished business leaders in the
Standing Committee 'A', to head State institutions, accepting the need
for making Sri Lanka an easy place to business, simplification of the
tariff regime and the policy framework articulated in the mini-budget
are some of them, he said.
"The stance of the Government of holding on to remaining State owned
enterprises and the trend towards State institutions acquiring large
chunks of shares of private business appears to give a different
message. Again it must be acknowledged that the need to make loss making
SOEs profitable has been recognized by the Government. Given that some
of the large SOEs are experiencing massive losses, we would urge that a
strict time frame be given to their transformation. In the event of
failure, more radical measures must be considered in the national
interest," he said.
"We lobbied with the authorities for quickly making Sri Lanka an easy
place to do business. Today the Government has accepted this need and a
high level committee is due to agree on an action plan shortly.
The recent 'mini-budget' for 2010 articulates a policy framework
which addresses many issues including taxation, ease of doing business,
allowing private higher education etc which we have highlighted over the
years in a tireless and a consistent manner.
With two consecutive quarters of high GDP growth - 6 percent in Q4
2009 and 7 percent in Q1 2010 - Sri Lanka is now on a high growth
trajectory. The recession is clearly a thing of the past. Tourism,
agriculture and fisheries sectors showed immediate positive response to
the end of the war. The other sectors should follow with the right
policy environment.
Sustaining and even bettering such high rates of growth requires a
sharp increase in investment - the need to increase investment from
about 25 percent of GDP to around 40 percent and that this entire
increase must come from the private sector is now accepted all round.
Realizing this step change in private investment is an urgent need.
The single digit inflation, reducing interest rates and improving
customer confidence are without doubt, reasons for optimism.
The chronic deficits, Sri Lanka has suffered for many decades, being
the trade deficit, and the budget deficit, however, are cause for
concern. The policy framework articulated in the mini budget clearly
shows that the Government is well aware of these issues and is
determined to address them. We earnestly hope that the Government will
be able to steadfastly adhere to this framework even if some of them may
not be popular in the short term," Ekanayake said.
"Ensuring continuing peace and stability along with transparency and
consistency in governance are pre-requisites for rapid business growth
and all round economic prosperity. We urge all stakeholders to give
these the top most priority in the constitutional amendments envisaged.
Above all we will continue to promote business and investment
throughout Sri Lanka. We will build linkages among small, medium and
large enterprises, between those in the metropolis as well as in the
regions, and connect Sri Lanka with the global economy, develop value
chains and play a key role in winning the economic war along with the
Government and the other stakeholders. We are committed to go along this
path with all other fellow travellers including other chambers and
relevant civil society organizations," he said.
"In the immediate aftermath of the war, the top national priority was
the welfare of the IDPs and thereafter their speedy resettlement.
In parallel we renewed our links with the business community in the
North and the East and in building value chains. We wanted the normal
economic activities to resume as fast as possible. These activities are
reported in greater detail in our annual report, and needs no repetition
here.
At the same time, we started showcasing post war Sri Lanka as a great
destination for business and investment by participating in relevant
international events, hosting international business delegations in Sri
Lanka and taking Sri Lankan delegations abroad," Ekanayake said. |