High investor confidence

Remarkable improvement in doing businesses:

Charumini de Silva

There is a remarkable improvement in doing businesses in Sri Lanka with the restoration of peace. The country has shown commendable growths quarterly where the growth prospects were revaluated to a higher Gross Domestic Production (DGP) by the end of this year, the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) President Lal de Alwis told Daily News Business.

Lal de Alwis

He said there is much scope for bilateral trade. “The Chamber is having at least one foreign delegation per week for bilateral trade discussions. This shows sound economic environment and investor confidence. The momentum will improve further as the country is picking up gradually”.

“The Government is focused on improving profitability of the state owned companies, while encouraging public-private partnerships (PPP). PPPs are an important facet in harnessing a sustainable economic growth, as it is very effective,” he said.

“Foreign lenders such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) encourage and support PPPs. The NCCSL is also promoting services under the PPP concept, which is much effective to have a service at a one-stop-shop,” he said.

“Industries such as apparel, ceramic and tea and other agricultural products that have gained a good reputation in the international arena is picking up satisfactorily. Therefore, we hope that the Government will introduce some special incentives for exporters and importers in the new Budget,” Alwis said.

The Government took some bold decisions like reducing the vehicle import duty, which indirectly created a lot of revenue to the Government. The Chambers have also suggested the Government to devaluate the Rupee value upto a reasonable extent, where it has been practised in some of the countries to benefit these industries.

Attracting foreign exchange is crucial in the long-term prospect. The devaluation of the Rupee will benefit exporters, tourism industry and foreign employment remittances and will also generate revenue to the Government at an angle, the President said.

He said in developing business it is vital to improve productivity while enhancing quality standards of products and services. The increase in productivity helps to bring down the cost of production where it develops worker satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

There are foreign companies that are performing well by setting up factories in Sri Lanka. The educated and adaptable

labourforce in the country is an asset. The low cost labour is a plus point to the country’s business community as well as attracting foreign companies. The private sector contribution to the GDP has been large and the sector is capable of negotiating joint venture investments.

“With the sound economic and social environment we expect that Sri Lanka will be a show piece in Asia,” Alwis said.