CB Chief lures Lankan expats with good work, play and life

Wednesday, 25 December 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal on Monday expressed confidence to Lankan nationals abroad, in the nation moving forward and assured the Government intends on maintaining a positive environment to encourage those interested to work in the country. Addressing a gathering of returnees and potential returnees at the inaugural ‘Work in Sri Lanka’ conference in Colombo, Cabraal highlighted the opportunities prevailing in Sri Lanka while it aims at becoming Asia’s next knowledge hub in the near future.

“Sri Lanka is on a forward march. We intend on keeping our country safe, we intend on ensuring that the macro fundamentals will be benign, and we intend that the capacity to do business will improve on a day-to-day basis. That would be the guarantee you will have to work, play, and live in Sri Lanka,” said a confident Central Bank Governor at the event at which Secretary Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Chief Guest. Commending the efforts of the President in the recent developments of the country, he noted that the recent transformation signifies the presence of a consistent pipeline of investments coming into the country. “Transformation has to take place and for that to happen there has to be new industries, services and systems coming into the country every year. This is not only important to support the present day but also the future. That is the challenge that we have,” he said. While inadequate infrastructure was considered as a bottleneck in the economic progress of the country over the past decades, the latest annual report of the Central Bank revealed that the total public investment on economic and social infrastructure development amounted to Rs. 388 billion, 5.1% of the GDP in 2012. As the Government has identified tremendous opportunities in areas which include maritime, aviation, knowledge, information technology, heath services, education, and energy, Cabraal stressed the need to ensure safe macro fundamentals in the country whilst making sure there is a steady pipeline of ready and skilful people for this purpose. Noting that the stage is set, he said the Government has made the initial investments and has created the platform to those interested in reaching the next level.