Sri Lanka will be a truly democratic country by April, says Karu
Asia will remain as the engine of growth in the coming years and countries in the region should take advantage of this development.
Expanding on this comment, Resident Representative of International Monetary Fund for Sri Lanka and Maldives – Dr.Eteri Kvintradz, Guest of Honour at the 56th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka held in Colombo this week, said that Asia will remain as the engine of growth where a 5.5 per cent growth will be recorded next year and Sri Lanka should take advantage of being strategically located in the region.
She said liberalising businesses was an important catalyst for development of the private sector growth and a clear tax system was a pre-requisite for such a development. Tax collection in Sri Lanka had declined in the past and a new tax system with the participation of all corporate bodies would augur well for the country, she said.
New Minister of Public Administration, Buddha Sasana and Democratic Governance Karu Jayasuriya, who was the Chief Guest, said there was a big gap between the haves and have nots and the government was mindful of the fact that there was two uprisings in the country in the past.
The Finance Minister has been asked to work out a package to provide relief to the people as there were instances where families could not afford to have three meals a day. “We are trying to reduce the prices of 10 important food items. We have done a study and found that some food items in London and New York were comparatively cheaper than in Sri Lanka.”
He said they made a pledge to increase the salaries of public servants by Rs. 10,000 with the first installment of Rs. 5000 being paid in the February salary. “We also thought that pensioners should live comfortably and decided to pay them (an additional) Rs. 3,500 with their monthly pension.”
The minister also said that mothers who deliver children would be paid Rs. 25,000 to overcome malnutrition. “We are sad to see that many new born children today are malnourished with impaired brain function,” he added.
He said at the Parliamentary session last week the Prime Minister presented a plan for the 100 days programme which was well received by the house. “We want to clean up the system and will bring in the Freedom of Information Act. We will re-introduce the provision of the 17th amendment to depoliticise the system, ensure transparency and good governance. We will ensure rule of law and will see that the judiciary is not tampered with.
By 24th April when we dissolve the parliament you can be happy that we live in a country which is truly democratic and just,” he said.
Outgoing President of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka Sunil G. Wijesinha said if Sri Lanka was to reach the status of a developed country it must initiate and improve the public sector. The stand taken by the Commissioner of Elections during the recent Presidential Elections was admired by people along with the public sector. Referring to the public service, he said an attractive remuneration package should be made available to state employees and promotions given to public servants on merit.
They should not be servile to politicians to gain their promotions. He said the uniqueness of the chamber was that its primary focus is in the development of the Sri Lankan businesses. “This was the objective of our founding fathers and we will continue to do so.” He said the chamber made a lot of progress during the last two years where it hosted a large number of foreign delegations and signed many Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with foreign chambers.
The newly-elected chamber president Tilak Godamanne said Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are contributing over 60 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Sri Lankan economy and the National Chamber was taking leadership in reaching out to the MSMEs in the provinces to offer much needed assistance.
He said a survey conducted by the chamber last year found that there was a scarcity of skilled labour that doesn’t match up to expectations of many industries. Such a scarcity would be a major obstacle for the growth of business and the economy. The misconception surrounding a person employed as a skilled labourer in a lower grade should be abandoned and a certification system recognised both locally and internationally should be adopted.
Referring to foreign investment, he said, Sri Lanka did not have a steady Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) over the years.
“We have to focus on the growth of exports and incentives offered for investments for export oriented ventures. Seventy five percent of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) employ a sizable number of people but have limited access to finance and do not use latest technology resulting in low quality and productivity. Many SMEs are also not directly connected to larger markets locally and for export as well, he said.