News
|
||||
Shutters
up for Sarath in London Mr. Amunugama on his way to a World Bank meeting in Washington had talks with Dr. Mohan Kaul, chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council and S.A Lingam, chairman of the Asian Business Council during which he underlined Sri Lanka's political stability and the propitious environment for foreign investment. He also talked with committee members of the Sri Lanka Business Council. High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha was associated with the meetings held at the High Commission in Hyde Park Gardens. Despite the efforts of Minister Amunugama to sell Sri Lanka, there is much scepticism here about the policies and commitment of all components of the UPFA government to foreign investment and free market policies. Though there have been various statements by ministers, some at variance with others, the absence of a comprehensive policy statement accepted and signed by all parties in the alliance and some recent decisions have caused prospective investors to act warily. One recent decision that is causing worry is the 100 percent tax to be imposed on foreigners buying property in Sri Lanka. Many of those who are interested in small property deals are persons of Sri Lankan origin who have acquired British nationality. Hard on the heels of this tax comes news of large swathes of prime state land in Colombo and elsewhere being sold to dubious foreign interests. They point out that government politicians, including one time ministers, have been able to swing such deals and have land sold to foreigners at many times below the market price while persons of Sri Lanka origin living in all parts of the world who have obtained foreign nationality, are called upon to pay a 100% tax. Several Sri Lankans and foreign business interests I spoke to in the last couple of days say they have to tread with caution. "There are so many countries now urging investors to come, so there is a wide choice. “It does not help when you have a government in which the coalition partners do not see eye to eye," said one prominent businessmen with interests in the UK, Malaysia and Hong Kong, to whom I spoke at Japanese Ambassador Masaki Orita's farewell reception on Thursday. What major investors here are looking for is the privatisation of utilities such as water, electricity, gas and petroleum where they could make a massive kill and pass on costs to the consumers through higher rates and prices. Recently an NGO, 'War on Want' released a report where even the British Government's Department for International Development is accused of backing World Bank and IMF policies for privatisation programmes in developing countries. 'War on Want' has exposed how the developing countries have suffered as a result of such privatisation policies. According to a statement released by the Sri Lanka's embassy in Washington DC, Dr. Amunugama is scheduled to address the 2004 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank today. During the visit, Minister Amunugama will also meet with Senior Officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Department of Treasury and the Millennium Challenge Corporation to discuss bilateral cooperation in the areas of economic development and development financing. The Minister’s meeting follows the Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister’s meeting with the USTR in June 2004 and also precedes the Fourth Ministerial meeting of the Joint Council under the Trade and Investment Agreement (TIFA ) scheduled for October 2004. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
