Private sector celebrates 60 years of Sri Lanka and Japan diplomatic ties

By David Ebert

‘60 Years and Beyond’ was the theme of the symposium held yesterday at the BMICH to celebrate six decades of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Japan. Organised by the Sri Lanka Japan Business Cooperation Committee and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce the main focus of the event was to look at the challenges and the way forward in streamlining socioeconomic and cultural ties between the countries.

Present in the audience was C.P. De Silva, who lead the first-ever business mission to Japan back in the year 1979. The symposium is to be the first in a series of events planned by the organising committee to be held in celebration of the milestone.

Delivering his address to an audience consisting of business representatives from both countries Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka Nobuhito Hobo commended the efforts of the organisers in bringing together an event that would provide valuable insights into how both economic and cultural ties could be enhanced while reiterating his country’s commitment to aiding Sri Lanka in its development efforts.

“What is most appreciated is that the symposium is not only celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties but it looks beyond the 60th year, the future of our relations. As you know Japan was totally devastated in the aftermath of the Second World War and as Japan began to rebuild the nation, it was the Government and the people of Sri Lanka who extended a genuine hand of friendship to the Japanese people. At the San Francisco peace conference in 1951, Sri Lanka’s representative, the then Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene renounced Sri Lanka’s right to reparation from Japan and urged the international community to accept Japan as a member.”

“The people of Japan are very grateful to Sri Lanka for its nobility and friendship extended by the Government and people of Sri Lanka. This is the reason that Japan has stood firmly as a true friend and constructive partner in the country’s development. All of the years Japan has been a good partner in terms of economic and technical cooperation, business and commerce as well as cultural and educational exchange. Since 1986 Japan has remained as a leading partner of Sri Lanka’s development and Japan’s development assistance has been extended to virtually all key sectors of Sri Lanka.”

Ambassador Hobo continued saying that with the end of the conflict, the country has witnessed a new era and that the country is faced with a golden opportunity to develop its economy at a rapid rate and needs to focus on specific segments of its socioeconomic structures need to be adjusted to sustain and cope with a transforming economy.

The Ambassador also pointed out that both Sri Lanka and Japan share similar characteristics in such as the lack of tangible natural resources, except for human resources and called for greater enhancement of higher education and skills development.

Hobo also brought to attention Sri Lanka’s strategic location, which he pointed out was ideally suited to supply chain and logistics while pledging Japan’s continued assistance in developing the needed infrastructure.

Meanwhile, speaking on the prospects for both countries in the development of education, Ministry of Higher Education Secretary, Dr. Sunil Navaratne started off by commending the Japanese belief in inculcating the tradition of putting one’s country ahead of oneself, stating: “It’s disturbing to note that most students whom we send on scholarships to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand prefer to stay on and build careers in those countries, whereas the Japanese educators whom I encountered during my higher studies in Japan urged all foreign students to do their duty and return home to serve their countries. This is one of the main reasons that Japan is where it is on the global stage and it is a commendable custom that we should also emulate if we are to reach our development goals effectively.”

Speaking further, Dr. Navaratne questioned the effectiveness of the current free education system where he felt that it was unfair on students from rural areas that students from more affluent backgrounds with the ability to pay receive a free education regardless of their economic status, adding pressure on the system as a whole.

Navaratne suggested that the education costs should ideally be calculated depending on these factors whereas the additional income generated from these measures be used to improve the facilities and create more opportunities for less affluent rural students.

Dr. Navaratne also stated his view that the current higher education system needs to incorporate the promotion of entrepreneurship and bilingual communication which would better prepare graduates for private, public sector or even self employment and urged the private sector to invest in higher education by partnering with the Universities in terms of research and development.

Talking on economic development between the two countries, Colombo University Senior Professor H.D. Karunarathne urged the country to learn from the methods and policies adopted by Japan, using how the country recovered from the 1971 oil shock where prices saw a steep upturn affecting the global economy.

“Energy source diversification needs to be focused on similar to the Japanese model, where they focused on alternative energy sources in the aftermath of the 1971 oil shock and you can now see the effects on the Japanese economy today. This is something we need to seriously look at in these times where we our economies are dependent on fossil fuel price fluctuations.”

Professor Karunarathne also pointed out areas which he felt the two countries could jointly develop further such as the energy sector, pharmaceuticals, tourism, scientific research, agriculture, vocational training and marine engineering.  

Karunarathne then listed what he believed were the key areas that Sri Lanka would need to improve on if the Government’s goals were to be achieved: “What the country needs is to focus on an universal education system, productivity improvement, emphasis on entrepreneurship and financial literacy among our graduates when they venture out from the system. This is imperative for the country to have a workforce that is both educated in and employment ready to face the world’s challenges.”

The final speaker of the day was the Japan External Trade Organisation Resident Representative, Masahide Sakishige who pointed out both the advantages and challenges faced by Japanese investors in the country: “Sri Lanka has a high quality workforce who are known to be clever, have a high level of craftsmanship, an extremely high literacy rate and not to mention the strategic positioning of the country offering easy access to both East Asia and the West too, this is the main reason Sri Lanka is an attractive investment destination for Japanese businesses.”

“However, with the advantages come some disadvantages as well such as increasing procurement costs, growing competitor market share and difficulty in recruiting general workers. In addition, we have urged the Government to strengthen the functions and the powers of the Board of Investment which would give the board more autonomy to solve issues directly, provide incentives for the existing companies operating in Sri Lanka and also for the abolishment of PAL and NBT tax imposed on machines tools for the manufacturing sector.”

 –Pix by Upul Abeysekera