Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
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Australia’s 30th Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses the Human Capital Summit last week
Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week speaking at the Human Capital Summit shared three Ps which enabled Sri Lanka’s recent success and would also shape a better future.
“I want to talk about three things – priorities, plans, and partnerships,” Morrison told the Human Capital Summit, inaugurated by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and attended by around 600 participants at the Temple Trees.
Morrison was one of over 60 global and local experts who spoke at the Summit organised by multiple public and private sector organisations, including the Daily FT.
In his address, Morrison shared some encouragement, affirmations, and challenges in terms of what lies ahead for Sri Lanka and made a compelling case for his three Ps.
“When it comes to priority, ‘first things first’ is what should drive the most immediate attention and, in this respect, I want to pay tribute to what the President has achieved here in one of Sri Lanka’s most difficult moments, and it has been heart-breaking from across the other side of the Indian Ocean to see the many challenges that the people of Sri Lanka have gone through,” recalled Morrison, adding that, nevertheless, Sri Lanka has been resilient.
“And you are here. And you are pressing forward. We talk about having a workforce for tomorrow and a future for tomorrow. Well, you have got to get to tomorrow first. And that’s where I think the President has done an extraordinary job in the economic crisis of just two years ago to be able to bring stability,” emphasised Morrison.
He said people migrate in the belief that there are better opportunities somewhere else, or they can start their businesses and grow them quicker somewhere else; that the skills that they have will be deployed better for themselves somewhere else.
“So if you’re going to retain your talent here, then there has to be a very good reason to stay here. There has to be a strong belief in the future of the Sri Lankan economy and its community, which will encourage people to remain, to invest, and take up opportunities and to go that extra yard.”
Of the things he affirmed, Morrison said the most important thing for Sri Lanka over the next couple of years is to continue on the path of stabilisation, fiscal repair, revenue reforms, debt restructuring, strengthening institutional financial settings and the independence of the Central Bank on prudential controls in the banking system, reforming State-owned enterprises, improving transparency and everything from procurement and how foreign investment occurs in Sri Lanka, and in corruption, safeguard and have an adequate social safety net.
He added that all of these things, which President Wickremesinghe has been leading, are very vital to Sri Lanka’s future.
Morrison, who was the 30th Prime Minister of Australia, reinforced the urgency of staying on that path in the years ahead. Moving away from that path will ensure that, “not just foreign investments, which this gathering also addresses, but also the international institutions and agencies, many of them represented here today, will lose confidence.”
He said that the Wickremesinghe Government’s efforts to restore confidence, restructure debt, stabilise the economy and currency, and get inflation under control mean “setting up your opportunity for tomorrow.”
“You actually don’t even get to talk about a workforce in the future unless you can continue the commitment and determination to address those challenges,” said Morrison.
Proper planning and checklist for Sri Lanka
He also urged Sri Lanka to continue to have “first things being first” and continue down the path of economic reforms, so that Sri Lankans can see that there is an economic future for them and their families as they move into the next decade.
Morrison also said, in tandem with stabilisation, Sri Lanka needs to have an economic plan to build on. “I think the essence of that plan is in place,” he opined.
He also emphasised that the economy must be export-oriented, saying the world has seen how other countries going through similar challenges turned their economies into an export-oriented focus.
Morrison said, given the limited 22 million market, Sri Lanka must open up more and foster greater partnerships with friendly countries.
“Indeed Sri Lanka, you don’t get rich selling these to yourself. So it’s important that the Sri Lankan economy has an outward focus, that it thinks well beyond its borders and to whom its markets are, and what its needs are, and the work of the Foreign Investment Board here, I think, has been critical to that end, and I encourage you to stay on that path.”
“You need an adapted and skilled workforce – one with its export-oriented focus on what the needs are of customers beyond your shores, even more so than those that are on your shores.”
The former Australian Premier also said that Sri Lanka must be a capital-friendly economy – one where there is policy and legal certainty, one where there can be confidence in how the rule of law applies – the contracts will be on them, where there are clear property rights, timely legal processes, ease of permit approval and the process that goes around that being transparent and fair, that there are open and proactive trade and investment settings, and that there are security safeguards in place to protect national sovereignty – when it comes to attracting that foreign investment and working with partners around the world.
It must be an economy that is energy secure – one where you have reliable, affordable power.
It must be one where you have reliable infrastructure, and again, much has been achieved in all of these areas; in road and rail and port maintenance and infrastructure, energy transmission, and digital connectivity. It must be an economy that is technology equipped, one where digital infrastructure and the tools and literacy or take-up of the digital is spread across the population.
He said one of the most innovative financial digital economy reforms he ever saw take place was in India. He described it as an “extraordinary undertaking” which transformed the Indian economy and laid the digital infrastructure to drive so much more of their economic changes that are so important to their economic development.
Among sectors in Sri Lanka, Morrison identified sustainable agriculture, the manufacturing sector, food processing, food tourism, and fashion and design as high potential.
He also stressed on the need of an economy that is enabled for the private sector, thereby ensuring businesses will invest and capital will be attractive. “If you don’t have an economy that can support that, then your ambitions in the area of developing your workforce will prove only to be ambitious. So having a plan, one that’s determined, focused, and integrated, is critical.”
Forging greater partnerships
In terms of partnerships, Morrison shared three ideas.
The first one is the need for Sri Lanka to have competitive vocational education and training, and almost a single-minded focus on the delivery of vocational education training programs around the world. He said Sri Lanka can draw from the successes of Australia, Japan, and Vietnam.
The second idea was to forge closer economic relationships with India. He cited the mutual benefits shared between Australia and New Zealand via almost a single economy between the two. Greater Sri Lanka-Australia ties were also stressed by Morrison.
“All of these things can open up a new type of economy here in the subcontinent, which Sri Lanka will be the biggest beneficiary of. In order to drive these relationships – where you are the smaller part – you have to take the initiative because those larger countries will often have many other competing priorities,” he added.
“First things first, get your economy and get your financial system stable so that you have a platform and watch to build your economic plan – a plan that will deliver you an innovative, externally focused, export-oriented economy which is enabled by the workers. Focus on building with the many programs that are there through the partnerships that you have, be it with your development partners like Australia or your closest neighbour India, or indeed the broader coalition of friendly nations that believe passionately in Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and independence,” summed up Morrison.
