Lack of sufficient private investments in Sri Lanka’s north – NP Governor
Although some excellent work on infrastructure has been done in the North and East, these projects alone have not achieved enough in terms of enhancing household incomes and addressing livelihood issues, as well as even promoting the necessary confidencethat normalisation is taking hold, according to former Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary and current Northern Province Governor H.M.G.S. Palihakkara.
He also added that other social concerns like alcoholism, drugs, criminal violence, etc are on the rise, particularly in the North, while also commenting that all stakeholders, and especially the private sector, had a significant role to play in getting more investment and value addition in terms of enterprise and capacity in these areas.
Mr. Palihakkara made these remarks at last week’s 176th Annual General Meeting of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, where he was the invited Chief Guest. Further, the event also witnessed the appointment of the chamber’s new Chairman, Samantha Ranatunga, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the CIC Group.
Despite the hype of economic activity that was witnessed during the past few years, household incomes in the North have remained significantly below the national averages and paucity (scarcity) in the area continues, noted Mr. Palihakkara.
Continuing, he additionally indicated that the Northern Province share of the national GDP remained low among the provinces, being 3.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent in 2010 and 2013, respectively. GDP per capita is also low in the Northern Province, and the Sabaragamuwa Province, while Uva and North East had the highest poverty levels per head.
He also revealed that, apart from some ventures in energy, garments, trading, etc., there haven’t been enough private sector investments in the Northern Province, since the conflict ended in May 2009. Of about Rs. 20 billion in investment in the Northern Province over the past few years, taking into account the Rs. 13 billion in investments in four or five power plants, the balance Rs. 7 billion has been mostly in manufacturing and hospitality, namely garments and hotels.
Making his inaugural address as chamber Chairman, Mr. Ranatunga highlighted inclusivity, education and SME development as key focus areas for his tenure, noting that 50 per cent of rural school children drop-out by age 15, while four per cent of rural and 12 per cent of estate children never enter school in the first place, even though education in Sri Lanka was meant to be free. At the same time, he also noted that consumption of alcohol and cigarettes was much higher in rural areas, the same also with abuse, while savings percentages were much lower in rural households, when compared to urban ones.
The chamber also appointed NDB Chief Executive Rajendra Theagarajah as Vice Chairman, while Dialog Chief Executive Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya was made its Deputy Vice Chairman. In addition, board appointments for 2015/2016 included: Jetwing Hotels Chairman Hiran Cooray, Sunshine Holdings Group Managing Director Vish Govindasamy, Ceylon Biscuits Managing Director Sheamlee Wickramasingha, Ernst and Young Partner/Head of Tax Services Duminda Hulangamuwa, HNB General Insurance Director Faizal Salieh as well as the chamber’s own Secretary General/Chief Executive Mangala Yapa.