Politics drives shipping talent to West Asia, Africa
View(s):By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
There is a demand for Sri Lankan talent in ports across West Asia and Africa, top officials say.
Many former Sri Lankan Ports Authority and shipping line staff were now working in ports all around the world and especially in the aforementioned areas, Rohan Masakorala, CEO of Shippers Academy told The Sunday Times Business on Thursday.
He mentioned that amongst the myriad of issues, the Colombo port is facing, such as global freight cost increases, the Red Sea issue and the latest customs strike, political red tape has also resulted in the country losing talent in this industry.
“The Red Sea issue is what many countries including Singapore, Dubai, etc are experiencing. The freight costs have shot up 200 to 300 per cent. The recent strike by Sri Lanka Customs has created a myriad of decisions and tracking cost escalation issues. However, for the last two decades, politicians haven’t been forthcoming with reforms which in turn have resulted in stagnation and stagflation in the industry. This is why politically driven decisions are driving talent away,” he explained. He added that billions of dollars are being invested in new port facilities in West Africa and the African region and many Sri Lankans are shifting to those locations for new projects.
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