CB Governor tells planters:

Be stakeholders in economic growth

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

Central Bank Governor Ajit Nivard Cabraal invited the plantation community to be a stakeholder in the achievement of the national economic growth targets while addressing the 157th Annual General Meeting of the Planters Association of Ceylon, at Hotel Galadari.

The Governor who was the chief guest, while congratulating the plantation sector for accounting for around 25 percent of the national export revenue said the plantations sector was one of the key players in keeping the Balance of Payments and the external sector robust.

He also proposed that the plantation sector also face the challenges posed by global factors upfront in the same manner that the apparel sector faced with the withdrawal of the GSP Plus and emerged winners where exports had increased dramatically.

He also commended the tea community for having achieved a record 314 million kilos yielding a record export turnover of US$ 1,375 million, which he said, was useful for the management of the economy and congratulated the plantations community for adding such value.

"The fact that the tea industry had added value to the tune of 68 percent of the exported teas was something that was worthy of emulation," he said.

"There is also much that we could do with the limited availability of land with the overall segment of the industry in the light of the agricultural sector dwindling as a percentage of GDP where the other sectors such as industries and the service sector had caught up leaps and bounds.

It is also noteworthy that the agricultural sector was accounting for 60 percent of the GDP at the time of independence but had dwindled to 12 percent not due to a reduction in the production but due to the growth of the other sectors as well.

He also said he hoped that the incomes generated from the plantations sector would be able to sustain the conditions of the economy and equally importantly, the external sector of the country.

The Governor, while underscoring the importance of the plantations to the Government, reminded planters that President Rajapaksa's assurance in his 2011 budget speech in Parliament that a certain percentage of the profits of banks would be retained for future long-term activity.

"It is also important that the plantations move into further classifications. We must recognise that just as much as 68 percent of the teas is exported as value added form, it also reminds us that there is 32 percent was still available for further product development and further value addition in the ensuing years.

While conceding that the issue of productivity was a major concern to the planters and deliberated at numerous fora, the Governor invited the planters to develop new methodologies to have growth models in plantation companies and trade unions, which he said, would ensure industrial harmony.