PM aims Sri Lanka to be South Asia’s first advanced nation 

Sri Lanka has the potential to become South Asia's first advanced nation as the government attempts to leap frog from its current status.

By Sunimalee Dias

Sri Lanka has the potential to become South Asia's first advanced nation as the government attempts to leap frog from its current status.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, delivering the keynote speech at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit in Colombo at the Cinnamon Grand, said today (Tuesday), "We must pull up our boot straps to become the first advanced economy in South Asia."

The two-day summit was held on the theme of "Re-calibrating Sri Lanka's Economic Trajectory Towards 2025."

With plans for a new outlook modeled on the private sector and a Treasury that should be like the New Zealand Treasury Department, he threw a few pointers that he believed would take Sri Lanka to the future.

He noted that the free trade agreements would be fully engaged with in future as this was where the money could be generated.

"Our commitment is to promote trade adjustments facility," Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

"We are now an upper middle income country and we have two options: Stagnate in the middle income sector or have a leap frog trajectory which will make us an advanced economy," he said.

He noted that the debt was reduced and as a result of which there is a surplus in the primary budget.

The Prime Minister stated, "The Government means to make unpopular decisions and not popular decisions; otherwise you might as well have a pop star!"