Vish wishes for united vision for Sri Lanka, as Chamber terms comes to close

• Asserts Sri Lanka needs to survive as a country, before getting back to level of imports country had
• Notes Chamber played a key role in ensuring private sector was united during trying times
• Says being market-friendly is the best way to be business-friendly
• Insists all have to work as one Sri Lanka towards one goal to ensure country and industry prosperity

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman  Vish Govindasamy  - Pic by Upul Abayasekara

By Darshana Abayasingha

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Vish Govindasamy on Tuesday said Sri Lanka is at a very crucial point of its economic journey, and the private sector must stand strong with the Government to emerge from the challenges before us.

He intimated the private sector must support progressive policies and shift from seeking short-term profits through lobbying to more long-term evidence-based policy-led measures that will benefit industries and the people of this country.

Govindasamy, who ends his tenure as Chairman of Sri Lanka’s most august trade chamber on Friday, shared these views during his address as the Chief Guest at the 109th Annual General Meeting of the Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA). He advised the local industry cannot continue with business as usual, even when the import ban on vehicles is lifted.  

“Everyone is wondering what’s going to happen in the next few days of domestic debt restructure (DDR). The private sector must stand strong with the Government, because we need to emerge from the current challenges and signal the nation’s economy and prosperity of our people to go forward. Sri Lanka needs to survive as a country, before we can get back to the level of imports we have had. Our people need to survive. It may look like we have fantastic stability when we look outside, but there remains a lot to do,” Govindasamy said. 

He insisted that the public and private sector needs to arrive at a consensus. “I don’t think we have come to that consensus as a nation yet. We are still apart on a lot of these decisions, and we need to come together. We have a lot to do in our loss-making public sector, our State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and we need to improve our trade and investment competitiveness. We are not the only country in the world that people are lining up to invest in,” he added.

The Chairman added the Chamber played a key role in ensuring the private sector was united during these times, and noted they met frequently with policymakers and even the IMF, adding it played a crucial role in securing board approval for the extended funding facility. 

Govindasamy added the Chamber appreciates the continuous engagement with the Central Bank, the IMF, World Bank, ADB and other multilateral agencies to help the private sector and people of Sri Lanka.

“We also had success intervening on behalf of our members and associations with key regulations and policy-related decisions that have had a negative impact on all our businesses. The Chamber proactively engaged with the Government on overturning the sudden ban on imports of chemical fertiliser, and some of the practical issues that had followed it. For instance, the tea industry lost over 50 million kilogrammes of yield; you can translate that to the amount of foreign exchange we lost and impacts on food security. So, the Ceylon Chamber will continue its efforts with these key agencies to make sure our members are represented,” he added.  

Drawing reference to the LIRNEasia report showing seven million Sri Lankans are now living in poverty with not more than Rs. 13,800 in earnings a month. “This is what happens when markets don’t work,” he said, and people’s knowledge and labour are not dignified. Being market-friendly is the best way to be business-friendly, Govindasamy said, and when markets don’t work properly people could end up with super profits, whilst there comes corruption and the poor end up suffering more.  

“The Government has a lot to do, and they have a KPI to meet with the IMF to receive the disbursements that have been promised. This will mean a very careful navigation that must happen. So whatever steps the Government takes today and over the next year or two will determine how we as a country will emerge from these challenges, and what signals we give the international community on the future prosperity of the country. We all have to work as one Sri Lanka towards one goal and make sure our country prospers and industry prospers,” Govindasamy said.