Lankan economy growing despite conflict - Ambassador

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Despite some pertinent bottlenecks, as the energy supply, infrastructure and bureaucratic procedures, the Sri Lankan economy is doing relatively well.

“However we all known of course that the current security situation and the conflict may have a serious negative impact for business and investment and sound economic development.

A conflict usually takes a solid amount of the GDP, also here in Sri Lanka, said Ambassador of Netherlands, Ms. Leon M. Cuelenaere.

Speaking at the National Chamber of Commerce excellence awards she said that when studying a country such as Sri Lanka, one can not dismiss the fact that it is a country with much potential.

“The country’s geographical location also adds highly to the country’s possibilities as it is situated in a region of high growth, with the booming economies of India, China and Japan only next door. Following this it has been continuously improving its economic relations with in the region and also with the EU over the past years.”

Despite the many opportunities, the country has not yet been able to grasp its full potential, and also economic growth is characterized by regional disparities.

“The main and for most factor that has contributed to a relatively slow growth in Sri Lanka, especially when compared to other surrounding Asian countries, is the ongoing conflict. It is seen by many businessmen as a liability standing in the way of economic development. As the insecure situation frightens off foreign investors, it tends to depress the overall flow of funds in the country.”

“Despite these critical points and the ongoing security problems in the country, it is important to note that Sri Lanka’s economy has been steadily growing over the past years,” she said. “This steady augmentation is first and foremost the result of a thriving private sector of Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka’s economy is mainly driven by a strong private sector with a huge commitment to the country.”

“In my opinion there is a crucial role for local and international investment to obtain growth and development reforms are necessary to reduce red tape to improve the ease of doing business, she said.

“So we all known that globalisation and internal conflicts puts every country for difficult choices and creates new challenges. We see rapid growth, but often also increasing inequity.”

Stimulating and enabling a fair business environment and mechanisms of distribution, is key to private sector development.

“We all known that these days we live in an age of rapid change that is having a major impact on the daily live of people all over the world. Globalisation is making the world both smaller and richer. New technologies such as mobile phones and internet are changing the face of the world.”

“Good entrepreneurship is essential in order to establish economic growth and good entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with access to knowledge.”

“I believe that investing and focusing on innovative ways on doing business, also in rural areas, will have its pay off one way or another.”