'Nee Haw Ma', Sri Lanka
By Random Access Memory (RAM)
An affectionate 'How do you do, Sri Lanka' is what the above headline means in Mandarin. The visit of the PM and the Sri Lankan delegation to China, the world's largest consumer base and the world's most dynamic and fastest growing economy, is indeed strategically well placed and of utmost importance to our own economic future. The five free trade agreements that were signed and the statement of a Chinese business leader that China will be Sri Lanka's largest business and investment partner within the next decade are very significant.
Today, all the major economies of the world have engaged the business reality that is China. The sprawling hundreds of McDonald, KFC, Taco Bell eateries and the Pizza Huts are but only symbols of the vast US engagement in China. The historic recent visit of the Indian PM to China meant that Sino-Indian relations were now at a new platform with economic realities taking over from the archaic political tug-o-wars. Vast doses of pragmatism and flexibility in dealing with dogmatism, is what has driven the Chinese economic miracle over the past few decades. By the way, in Mandarin the same characters are used to describe both danger or crisis and opportunity.
China's over 5,000 years of history and the Confucian ethic that drives a system that has consistently held together have surprised many. Over 10 percent consistent economic growth year after year for decades is no mean achievement. China's innovative political solution for Hong Kong of 'One country, two systems' reflects the duality that is in Chinese thinking. Within China this duality is reflected in the manner in which they maintain a tight but cost effective production and service economy, that gives huge advantages in global competitiveness. This will serve China even better when the full implementation of the WTO free trade regime begins from 2005.
In RAM's mind, future Sri Lankan business development in China can take three directions. The easiest are the imports, without much benefit accruing to the Sri Lankan economy. The Chinese apples, oranges, toys, furniture, etc. lead the consumer goods list. Chinese equipment imports can bring benefits through its contribution to the production process. The second is the export of our tea, rubber and other products in which we can find a competitive advantage.
Here we could also engage China in joint venture investments in tourism and for developing trade with third countries in South Asia, playing the role of trusted ally and business associate with relatively better local knowledge. The last is a bold role of Sri Lankan direct business investment in China. The opportunities to introduce chains of Sri Lankan speciality tea shops, restaurants and Ayurvedic centres as joint ventures in major Chinese cities may serve us well in the long term.
This could be the platform for establishing a long-term economic presence within the largest single marketplace in the world. We could even consider introducing Indian banana leaf-style eateries and work on getting the Chinese palette to like these new South Asian culinary delights. After all in countries like Malaysia and Singapore most citizens of Chinese descent now love the taste of curry.
In examining the necessary conditions for some of this to happen, we see some areas that need to be strategically driven. One such area is in understanding the Chinese mindset. It is one thing to have a spate of 'Chinese Restaurants' as fronts to obtain liquor licences serving food that is an insult to the great tradition of Chinese cuisine. It is another to have a good insight into how Chinese do business.
Beginning over a decade ago, Singapore invested heavily in China, even establishing industrial parks such as the ones at Suzhou and Wuxi. There has been a lot of heartburn on the return on that investment and many a dispute between joint venture partners were reportedly resolved from time to time with interventions also at senior minister Lee Kuan Yew's level. The Chinese will not change their ways for us and we need to understand that to be able to work harmoniously with them.
The other is language. At a recent presentation a British Council personality admitted that the importance of English as the global business language might be subdued with the growing use of Mandarin. He who has lived and worked in East Asia admitted that it would be prudent for those seeking business with China to be able to speak the lingua franca and suggested that it would also be advantages to speak Hindi, when doing business with the other Asian economic giant, India.
In addition to enhancing knowledge of English, offering courses in Mandarin and Chinese culture as well as Hindi might make a good optional addition to our 'to be soon reformed' educational system. This will certainly prepare our children to be better equipped for the future world of global business. For some this may mean having to think out of the box.
Future success we now know is about innovation; creativity and being out of the box and it will do well for our current leaders not to make the same mistakes that were made in the past.
The writer is a former public servant with wide international experience in the public/private sectors, in a range of disciplines. He could be reached through The Sunday Times on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Webmaster Editorial