Invest in North

The Northern Awakening program has received a tremendous boost with the growing number of investors showing interest in setting up business ventures in the North. What a far cry from the times when investors far from going North did not even set foot in Sri Lanka due to the destruction engineered from the North. It is up to the authorities now to seize on this enthusiasm of the investors by giving them all the incentives and encouragement to help revive the Northern economy that was dealt a body blow by the war.

Hopefully the upcoming budget would include these incentive packages that would encourage more and more investments to pour funds into the North.

It is being reported that investors in their numbers are descending on the North to set up projects. Recently several of these investors had visited Vavuniya to look into the possibility of setting up garment factories there. Others are looking at the prospects that have been opened for tourism and are contemplating setting up hotels to cash in on the tourist boom that is anticipated.

Meanwhile the opportunity should also be provided to our Sinhala businessmen to restart their trades and ventures that were once flourishing in the North before the war. We especially refer here to the famous bakery business run by the Sinhalese from the South. What is needed here is to restore the status quo as it existed before the war. This would not only stimulate the Northern economy but also facilitate the integration process.

Like in the South which was untouched by development for long years giving rise to the slogan Kolombata kiri apita kekiri the North too was left out of the scheme of things even before the conflict. Today thanks to the personal initiative of President Mahinda Rajapaksa the rural hinterland is witnessing unprecedented development so much so today there is a sort of reverse migration to places such as Hambantota once a neglected rural backwater, now home to a fully fledged port and an international airport. It is likewise hoped that a similar transformation would be witnessed in the North as well given the growing prospects for its renaissance from the ashes of war.

Leaving aside tourism the North offer much potential for investors including the fishing industry which has largely gone unexploited. It is a paradox indeed that we still import canned fish while being surrounded by the ocean. Part of this catch is netted from our own seas by foreign fishermen using sophisticated methods.

It would be ideal if a canned fish factory could be set up even with foreign collaboration in the North. Such a venture would not only boost the Northern economy but also open employment avenues for the youth in the North giving them an opportunity to build up their shattered lives.

The North is also well-known for its fruits, especially the rich variety of mangoes which could also interest investors by setting up fruit canning factories with value added and the potential for export. The rich agriculture in the North also offer much promise to the investor. With the rapid building of infrastructure it is hoped that more and more investors would move into the North before long.

Garment factories are indeed a novelty in the North. Even the garment factory program of President Premadasa did not include the North. Of course the terrorists problem may have mitigated against the decision to have these factories in the North. But with the LTTE factor no more the setting up of garment factories would be a good investment.

We say this going by the drive and enterprise of the people of the North to make a success of whatever they undertake. These garment factories would also provide indirect employment to many thereby easing the economic burdens of the people of the North.

There should also attempts to revive all abandoned industries in the North. This, while helping boost the Northern economy would also benefit the national economy which had lost much by way of loss of production of the industries in the North.

The neglect and lack of attention by all past governments to the North was one of the reasons that led to the uprising of its youth. This asymmetrical development also was the cause for the bitterness harboured by the Tamil community towards the establishment exacerbating the feeling of discrimination.

President Rajapaksa has now taken meaningful steps to assuage these feelings by developing the North on par with the rest of the country. The eagerness of investors to move North no doubt is a great boost to the President’s plans for the people of the North.