Improving Sri Lanka’s tax collection base and collection a challenge to the government
The possibility of extending Sri Lanka’s tax collection base and raising the levels of tax collection is under discussion at the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank. Newly appointed British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of a breakfast meeting with local corporates at the Hilton Colombo Residencies, recently.
He said, “I have not been in Sri Lanka for very long. I met the Finance Minister and Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently. At the meeting they discussed with me about the importance of extending Sri Lanka’s tax collection base and raising the levels of tax collection.”
He said Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) or a country’s efforts to attract FDIs are part of international competition. “It’s about making yourself more attractive than other countries. If I am an investor looking at where to invest, I will look for the best,” he noted.
Mr. Dauris also mentioned that there are numerous opportunities and potential for Sri Lankans to work with many British companies. He said, “Considering the skills sets that international banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered look for when they recruit managers, they look for people with high levels of management and leadership skills. And companies like these are increasingly looking to recruit more and more Sri Lankans”.
He said; “if you take Millennium IT, one of the top software companies in the world, almost all their software engineers are Sri Lankans who have good education and the ability to enable their company to compete in a world leading market. That is clearly a challenge in Sri Lanka to offer good English along with the right skills that the industry needs. It’s not just about having a lot of academic qualification, it’s about having the right qualifications which helps you both to improve your employment prospects and in turn enable you to help your company and the country”.