A veteran entrepreneur, former President of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka and currently Chairman of Young Entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka (YESL) Patrick Amarasinghe this week urged newly elected parliamentarians to act as role models for the younger generations in the country -- setting an example for youth by conducting themselves in an exemplary manner both in and outside parliament.
In a phone interview with Business Times he also said the time is opportune for the new government to focus attention on the real economic development in the country as it has been given wide powers by the people to restore political stability.
Sixty two years since independence, successive governments in Sri Lanka have failed to implement a long term pragmatic economic policy. The new government should embark upon a economic plan with short and long term development objectives.
“Sri Lanka has followed a practice of waiting for foreign aid with a begging bowl to obtain money from donor agencies such as the IMF to tackle balance of payments,” he said. “We should stop this practise and go to the extent of contributing money to the IMF as a member country like India and Taiwan.”
He stressed the need to develop indigenous entrepreneurship according priority to social responsibilities.
Mr. Amarasinghe said that it is essential to grow small and medium scale entrepreneurs who had enough and more bureaucratic obstacles in their way.
The improvement of the Small and Medium scale Industrial sector (SMI) will help to create more employment opportunities for young men and women, he added.
Today, many youngsters complain that there are no jobs but organizations complain that there are jobs but people do not have the talent or required skills for jobs.
The government should seriously consider this matter and make use of the veteran professionals to devise vocational training programmes to tackle this problem. "We want our children to cultivate the savings habits; how to make and manage money properly where they could become job creators and not job seekers," Mr Amarasinghe noted.
“We as experienced entrepreneurs and senior citizens are ready to serve the country and the government should make use of us at this decisive moment,” he added.
He told the Business Times that adding value to the country's human capital is one of the biggest challenges and it is the responsibility of the government and social entrepreneurs to provide appropriate education to the younger generation to meet today's world demand.
He noted that the time has come for Sri Lankan expatriates serving in foreign countries to return to Sri Lanka and make their contribution towards the socio-economic development in the country as the conflict in the North and East is now over.
“There is a vast potential in tourism and building construction sector in the aftermath of war, and if we fail to grab this golden opportunity, Sri Lanka will never be able to achieve the status of a developed country with a decent standard of living for its people,” he said. |
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