Private sector Chambers praise Govt’s stable tax regime

Several chambers of commerce and trade have praised the Government’s stable tax regime, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

It said that during a meeting between Minister Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen and representatives of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the National Chamber of Exporters and the Industrial Association of Sri Lanka yesterday, they had complimented the Government for maintaining a stable tax regime especially in the last three years stimulating considerable foreign investments.

Minister Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen (head) with CCC, National Chamber of Exporters and Industrial Association of Sri Lanka representatives

“The current policy stance of the Government with regard to FDI is sound and the Government should continue without any changes, especially no ad hoc policy changes.

 The Government should also strive to increase FDI quantum to about 35% of GDP from the current 29%. We need to increase local production capacity to gear up exports. But we believe that the high cost of energy and labour are problematic for manufacturers and exports in general,” Ronnie Peiris, a member of the Main Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, was quoted as saying by the Ministry.

“Some more tax concessions and upgrading our manufacturing technologies to improve productivity could help in achieving the competitive edge for us in the international markets,” Peiris added to which other chamber members present agreed.

“The forthcoming two manufacturing zones by India are a welcome development and we also like the current flexible foreign exchange rate scheme which encourages exports,” Peiris added.

The meeting was convened by Bathiudeen where the chambers presented their inputs and concerns for consideration by the Government when formulating the 2013 Budget.

Minister Bathiudeen assured the private sector representatives that their inputs would be taken into account and would duly be conveyed to the Budget 2013 formulation process.

“I respect the “I respect the Judiciary”: Rishad

Minister of Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen yesterday said he is law abiding and has the utmost respect for the Judiciary.

He made this remark during a pre-Budget 2013 private sector stakeholder discussion yesterday in response to a query from a representative about the incident in Mannar.