Practical budget, says chamber official
The business community has said the budget was a very “practical” one and was pleased that most of their proposals were accepted by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka.National Chamber of Commerce Senior Deputy President and Atlas Logistics Managing Director Sujeeva Samaraweera told a Business Times post budget discussion conducted through skype yesterday that most of the proposals submitted by the chamber were looked into and noted the government efforts to focus on labour development.
Mr. Samaraweera observed that the 5-day work week was a welcome move since it would save extra costs as nothing productive happens during a 6-day work week.The development focus on the Small and Medium Enterprises was an encouraging sign, he noted adding that they did require the necessary support for funding and technical assistance which the government could provide.Moreover, the development of the rural economy he believed would assist the national economy but pointed out that the government needs to address issues pertaining to the establishment of an initiative similar to the 100 garment factories programme in the past.
Going by the work put into the presentation of the budget, he noted that now the business sector should make full use of the facilities made available and work for the economic growth of the country.The air and sea hub operation in Hambantota was noteworthy, he said adding that this should be a cargo operation for Mattala airport and position the ports of Colombo, Hambantota and Galle according to each one’s importance and commended the bunkering operations being mooted for the Southern port.Commenting on the taxes, he noted that the VAT being re-instated allowed for breathing ground for the business sector.
owever, Mr. Samaraweera noted that it would take at least one and half years for these proposals to get off the ground and how fast it would be implemented by the state establishments depends on their efficiency.He noted that the bureaucracy within the establishments was such that there should be clarity as to how the measures mooted should be implemented.
| “Walk the talk” Meanwhile BT reporter Raj Moorthy, who along with BT journalists took part in the discussion quoted Mr. Samaraweera as saying, “We don’t want the government to stop any of the infrastructure development that were carried out by the previous regime or developments have already started after the new government came into place”.  On SME development, he said “SME development is our forefront and the SME industries need to be supported a lot”. He also mentioned that in the budget proposals the government has looked into the rubber and coconut development while agriculture was also recognised, which is a positive impact. The budget also addressed issues on the rural economy, he added. As an initiative of investment promotion, building a centre to support Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) was a dire need and the budget included this proposal, he noted. But from an entrepreneur point of view he said that while it’s very practical to put everything together on a piece of paper, it’s time to ‘walk the talk’ now and make use of the facilities available. | |