Googling Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan policy makers are debating on who is responsible for the economic crisis due to bad procurement contracts, inflated infrastructure projects and ISBs, while the Auditor General Report of 2022 has revealed that 67% of the foreign debt the Government amassed between 2006 and 2021 are missing from Government assets. This revelation comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court naming 13 people that included the former President, Finance Minister, Central Bank Governor and Treasury Secretary that they violated the Public trust and breached Article 12(1) of the Constitution in their administration that caused the economic crisis.

While the above debate is taking place in different flora, the latest data from the Census and Statistics Department reveal that 54.9 % of Sri Lankan school going children have been affected by the economic crisis, a reality that the 225 in Parliament are not aware of. Most of these families are in a deep financial crisis and the report goes on to reveal that families in different parts of the country are trying different options to keep the family spirit of education alive.

To be specific 53.2% of the families have cut their expenditure on stationery so that they can put food on the table. A staggering 44% of the families have cut down on buying new uniforms or in the alternate stopped purchasing them altogether, a huge blow to a small child’s mindset. In rural Sri Lanka, a child takes pride in wearing clean clothes and attending school, and now due to the corruption/ bad governance of political leaders this right has been denied the child. That is the truth and the reality.

Earlier in 2023, a study done by Nielsen revealed that 73% of households have reduced the consumption of food, and now people have moved to cutting corners in the clothing just to put food on the table. This is the sad reality that the ‘actors’ in Parliament are oblivious to.

We saw a new development last week, where some are trying to paint reality, confusing the people saying that during their regimes life was good and they don’t agree to the new taxes introduced in 2024. A point forgotten by such personalities is that it was from 2006 that Sri Lanka started dipping into the international commercial market and began taking loans. The reason is, we started to live life beyond our means. That is the naked truth.

From year 2006, loan stock increased to bridge the financial deficit

 What many forget is that a Sri Lankan voter is a very smart consumer. People now see through the ‘baby kissing politician ideologies’. People will not believe those who robbed the Central Bank or who built highways and stadiums and siphoned money out of the country. People have now matured. We saw the strong attitudes of the people during the Aragalaya and now the country has matured even stronger. Thus, 2024 will be an interesting year.

Be that as it may, let me pick the trending stories on media today if one Google Sri Lanka. But to give context, let me share the key insights from the Nation Branding Guru Simon Anholt who has advised more than fifty country heads around the world.

Live the promise 

Simon Anholt who authored the concept of ‘Nation branding building’ says, “Your reputation as a country is what you earn over time. You cannot just build it with advertising and promises that the country does not live up to.” This is the brutal reality that 225 does not understand and continues to behave in absolute disrespect to the 7 million plus people that are in poverty out there, fighting to put food on the table. Many families in fact have only two meals a day as per the latest survey reports. 

Live with our conscience

 The year 2024 will be a year we have no option but to work in line with our conscience, given that Fitch Rating states that overall prices will once again increase the cost of living by 8.7 % due to the VAT increase. It means those in the poverty line will drop down to poverty. Some speculate this number would exceed 10 million people or half the population from the current seven million. I guess time would tell.

Simon Anholt states that nation branding pivot is where the expert goes on to state, “Your reputation as a country begins with what the people inside the country talk about their administration, their sports teams, tourism sites, export products, investment opportunities and about the uniqueness of the culture”.  Sadly, when we watch the news channels, what people say about our country’s administrators and governance is clearly not the image we want Sri Lanka to have. Hence, we see the issue to address.

As Anholt says “The international images of nations are important not only because of their huge impact on the ability of those nations to attract trade, tourism, investment and talent; they are also symptomatic of the geopolitical undercurrents that shape our world and our collective future,”  

Let me share the key themes if we Google Sri Lanka today, if one Google Sri Lanka:

1) Operation Yukthiya on drug menace 

Operation Yukthiya launched two weeks back has netted 20,800 suspects and drugs worth Rs. 900 million. A main line news story daily in all news channels of Sri Lanka is centered around a story that very powerful personalities are behind the drug menace in Sri Lanka. When Googling Sri Lanka, shootings and arrests for possessing cocaine, ice and ganja does not augur well for brand Sri Lanka that is trying to attract top end visitors to the country, but this is one clear story line that appears on Sri Lanka.

2) Health Ministry scandal 

Sri Lanka’s human development index is the best in Asia. But, the recent scandal at the Health Ministry on allegations of widespread corruption, import of poor quality medical drugs, non-availability of some drugs has hit headlines once again on main line media stations. The arrest and subsequent remanding of the former Health Secretary has left a deep scar on a nation where one’s life from cradle to grave is state funded. The collective voice of medical professionals, civil society and the public is that the former Health Minister must be arrested. Once again this media report does not help brand Sri Lanka as we are a financially bankrupt country and at least now we need to learn. The President being “mum” on the same is linked to this story line out there globally. This is the reality.

3) Cricket Board corruption 

Sri Lanka team loss to India at the World Cup 2023 sparked the Sports Minister to sack the whole of Sri Lanka Cricket. This led to wide protests against the alleged corruption, but the scandal took a different turn when a stay order was announced by the Court that made headlines. Especially after the Sports Minister was removed by the President and the interim council was removed leading to the same officials alleged for corruption holding office. The truth we know but the perception is that this story line is trending given the nation’s love for the sport. Globally this news item does not add value to brand Sri Lanka.

4) Malnutrition in Sri Lanka

As per the UNICEF report almost 6.2 million people are moderately or acutely food insecure. This is essentially 28% of the population and is a story seen by all global health magazines given that Sri Lanka is facing an economic collapse. This story has been trending as it’s a developing story that leaves a bad taste on the island nation as the IMF has categorically mentioned that ‘governance’ was a key reason for the economic collapse. 59.4 % of families had issues when it came to sending a child to school, according to the recent report by the Census and Statistics Department.. 73 % of the families are cutting back on the consumption of food as per the Nielsen study. These are the trending thoughts that Sri Lanka is up against. 

5) Supreme Court judgment- Easter attacks 

Two very high share of voice pieces on Sri Lanka even today is the Supreme Court landmark decision where a former President with two key Defence officials  were ordered to pay compensation for their negligence that cost 269 lives in the Easter Sunday attack. What was unique in this communiqué was the former President claiming he does not have the capacity to pay the stipulated Rs.100 million which further went viral and came out stronger when Googling on Sri Lanka. 

6) Reprimanded for the economic collapse 

After almost one year, the Supreme Court made another landmark decision where 13 key officials including the former President, Finance Minister, and Central Bank Governor were cited as the people responsible for the economic crisis. It’s a landmark decision as the country is suffering at every level due to the bad decisions that led to the Sri Lankan economy crashing. This story gets linked to the announcement that a very high share of voice was garnered when Sri Lanka declared a state of bankruptcy that in turn gets linked to the street protests that followed, branded Aragalaya and resulted in the former President fleeing the country on a boat. As this was the first country in modern times it’s a highly Googled  item that sure hurts brand Sri Lanka.

7) Parliament chaos 

The most unproductive discussions on the current administration is how the ruling party resorted to thuggery in Parliament during the Budget debate. Especially, the fist fight that erupted between a lady MP and a group of male MPs went viral given that schoolchildren were also in the public library on that day. The Speaker had to suspend one member of the ruling party due to bad behaviour that did not show well for a country that is declared bankrupt and on an IMF program. 

Next steps 

While Sri Lanka is shaping the economy with serious economic reforms, an area that has not been managed is the perception globally that Sri Lanka propagates. As the top behavioural researcher Shiffman and Kanuk said, “People act on perceptions and not on reality”. The story lines of Sri Lanka when Googled does not help build the brand Sri Lanka.

In fact, currently we are destroying brand Sri Lanka with serious governance issues. The IMF has intimated this in the 16 point plan on the Governance Diagnostic Assessment study which Sri Lanka not even acknowledged. The repercussions are that the brand Sri Lanka that was worth $ 83 billion in 2017 has crashed to around $38 billion last year is what media reports say. Sri Lanka sadly is rudderless on this front.

 

The thoughts are strictly the views of the writer and does not reflect the organisations he serves in Sri Lanka and South Asia