President says Government fostering knowledge-empowered youth generation

Saturday, 15 June 2024 01:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Ranil Wickremesinghe this week emphasised the need to cultivate a generation of youth equipped with the knowledge and training necessary to meet future challenges.

He also highlighted that an economic program aimed at generating substantial income for the youth of the country is currently being implemented.

President Wickremesinghe shared these thoughts during a meeting with members of the National Youth Corps (NYC) at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday.

During the event, NYC Director Brigadier Sujeewa Rathnayake presented a souvenir to President Wickremesinghe.

Expressing his ideas further, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated:

“It has been 22 years since the Youth Corps was established. It was originally designed to align with the economic and social system of that era.

However, the Youth Corps must evolve with the times. To ensure a prosperous future for our youth, we must also focus on improving their income opportunities. Necessary steps should be taken to adapt and transform the Youth Corps accordingly.

Young people prefer jobs with high income potential, so we must develop plans to create such opportunities. The Economic Transformation Law has been introduced in Parliament to address this. By 2027, this law aims to reduce unemployment, and by 2035, it will establish several high-income employment sectors, paving the way for a developed state by 2048.

The Youth Corps students here today will not even be 50 years old in 2048, and we need to implement programs to create a new economy for their future. We should look to the development models of countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, which are based on export economies. Therefore, our focus should be on building an export-based economy.

Additionally, we should concentrate on areas that can be developed rapidly. An urgent program should be implemented to advance sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and information technology. It is essential to direct the youth corps students toward these areas.

We must establish a green society and a green economy to prepare a young generation equipped with the knowledge and training to meet future challenges. By providing professional training, we can elevate the country’s economy to a new level and create a skilled youth workforce.”