Present political setup and economic development

Contd. from Page 15

There are examples of global brands decided to start business in Sri Lanka but due to the long process for approvals, corrupt officers and politicians they decided to move the businesses to other countries. Once we lose such opportunities it is very hard to create a good name and bring them back. Most of the countries in Asia improved their ratings over the years however Sri Lanka still seriously lagging behind. The following statistics are evident we are not doing well.

WTO Trade 

Facilitation Agreement

After Sri Lanka signing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement we are committed to improve our status to make a business friendly country. Sri Lanka has a firm commitment to the World Trade Organisation after ratifying the agreement 31 May 2016. 

The charts show the most problematic factors for doing business 2017 by the World Economic Forum and Ease of Doing Business rank in Sri Lanka from 2008-2016 out of 190 countries in the world. 

Opportunities 

in Sri Lanka

After a study of all the strengths and weaknesses of our economy, the Global Alliance for Trade facilitation found port handling charges in Sri Lanka were very competitive in this region. This create a good opportunity for Sri Lanka to establish a multi-country consolidation hub. 

They as a team agreed to talk to other Global Alliance Partners, some of the global businesses, investors about the opportunities of this project and convince them to invest. However from the Sri Lanka Government side still the progress is very slow. Hope this will not be a lost opportunity for Sri Lanka among many of them. 

Benefits of the proposed project

nBoosting SMEs exports by providing huge additional transportation capacity and improved connectivity at a competitive price; 

nUnlocking significant Foreign Direct Investment by international private sector companies in the form of logistics facilities; 

nIncreasing Sri Lankan ports’ ability to bring in more foreign exchange by assisting the country to further develop Colombo port from being mainly a transhipment port towards becoming a centre for value-added logistics services; 

nGenerating employment for an industry that is labour intensive.

In addition to the above benefits the a multi-country consolidation hub would respond directly to a broad range of TFA commitments, including expedited shipments (Article 7.8), temporary admission of goods (Article 10.9), as well as freedom of transit (Article 11) and Authorised Operator (Art. 7.7).

Opportunities for FDI

Global investors have a variety of choices among the countries inviting them to their respective countries, especially the lucrative Asian countries, newly-developing African countries and Middle Eastern counties. If we miss the opportunity once, it will never come to us again. Because of this reason as a country all the citizens should be patriotic and work for the development of the country rather than supporting short term political agendas presently taking the priority. 

At a recent forum on good governance in public enterprises, Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya mentioned the lack of good governance killing public enterprises. He further stated the economy continues to fall victim to nepotism, which taxes the nation in terms of income and productivity. He said there continues to be a lack in professional management of public enterprises. There have been many political appointments at top level and he said the chairmen and those sitting on the boards should be dynamic people, who are well-versed on the enterprises. 

If the lack of good governance is killing the public enterprises and already there are bad/inefficient people sitting on the boards due to political appointments, why we are not taking immediate corrective steps? Who should do this? Again, it is the politicians. We as the citizens of this country request major political parties in action not to kill public property anymore, please stop this – especially at the most dangerous time when we have to pay off so much debt. 

At this same event Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe highlighted the need to establish a holding company to address complex administrative governance issues of public enterprises in Sri Lanka. He addressed the issue of Sri Lanka suffering heavy financial losses due to mismanagement at SriLankan Airlines and coal power generation projects commissioned in Sri Lanka over the years. 

It is evident from the above statements by the Speaker of the Parliament and the Auditor General that even the present regime has not done what they have promised and there is no Yahapalanaya in action. As the Auditor General mentioned, it is not only SriLankan Airlines and coal power generation projects; all of us know the list is very long. Can we afford such huge losses to the public? 

All the heavy taxes paid by the citizens of Sri Lanka direct and indirect are wasted to maintain corruption and corrupt officers in public enterprises. There should be an end to this soon for us to move forward as an honourable nation.