Thursday, 22 August 2013 00:47
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Continuing the vigorous campaign to promote the CHOGM 2013 in Australia, the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne, in collaboration with AUS-Sri Lanka, organised a Sri Lankan pavilion at the Commonwealth Business Forum held from 15 August onwards at the Sri Lanka Consulate auditorium.
The pavilion welcomed over 40 guests including Hugh Morgan from First Charnock, Aus-Lanka Business Council President Dilki Perera, Consul Osada Yapa as well as business members of the Commonwealth Council.
Consul General of Sri Lanka Upul Pushpakumara graced the occasion and explained how important the CHOGM is to Sri Lanka and Australia in terms of bilateral ties.
Pushpakumara, delivering the keynote address at this important seminar, highlighted the unique characteristics and benefits of CHOGM 2013 in Sri Lanka.
“After the ending of terrorism in 2009, under the guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka has now entered into a new era of development. Launching Mahinda Chinthana, the 10 year development vision plan for Sri Lanka, the president stated in his speech in 2009 that ‘we have lost three decades of development due to terrorism in this country and now it is time to catch up with what we lost in real quick time’.
“In line with this many development projects were initiated by the Government in partnership with the private sector and the international community. With massive focus on infrastructure development, road development and power generation were given high priority.
“The North and East regions were re-connected with the national road system by rebuilding all the main roads. All byroads were repaired while smaller village roads were reconstructed using concrete. The first ever highway in Sri Lanka, the Southern Highway, which connects the Southern capital of Galle with Colombo was declared opened in 2012. Currently the work continues to expand this highway connecting the deep South cities of Matara and Hambantota.
“Further, the work has already finished on the second highway which connects the main airport to central Colombo cutting down the travelling time to twenty minutes from one and a half hours,” Pushpakumara said.
He added: “Many other projects that were delayed or not initiated prior to the war era were expedited after 2009. The Norochcholai power plant was one such project that was completed in very quick time. Today the power plant has excess production of 300 mw and stands tall in the national power grid. Further, the Government took steps to include the second international airport (Mattala) and the second international sea port (Hambantota) in the economy while the main port in Colombo saw massive expansion. Currently the third airport is being studied in the North (Jaffna, Palali).
“The Government took further steps to connect the country with the international arena by initiating massive development projects in the field of information and communication technologies. E-Sri Lanka, Web Patashala and Nanasala were some of the very effective projects penetrated to the rural / village communities, connecting them with the rest of the world.
“Introduction of the latest 3G (third generation) mobile communication technologies further penetrated e-services and internet across the country. Today, Sri Lanka posses 21.9 million mobile users, while the population is 21.4 million, which is the highest penetration rate in the South Asian region.
“Also internet usage is increasing rapidly. At the end of June 2012 the number of internet users in Sri Lanka stood at 3,222,200, a 28% increase in users within six months, compared to IWS’s published data for 31 Dec 2011.
“Due to increasing popularity as a top tourist destination Sri Lanka recorded a high growth in the tourist arrivals to the island. In 2009 the annual arrivals were just around 500,000 but in 2012 it doubled and recorded 1.1 million arrivals with industry revenue of over $ 1 billion. “This was a significant achievement for a country that was not so popular due a three-decade war. Tourism industry expansion paved the way for top hotel operators such as Shangrila, Kingsbury and Hilton to establish/expand their footing in the island. “With all these developments taking place the Sri Lankan economy grew at rapid pace. Local market grew as the North and East were connected with the rest of the economy. From 2009 to 2012 Sri Lanka recorded an economic growth of 7% - 8 % annually. GDP grew from $ 1,180 in 2009 to $ 1,402 by the end 2012. This resulted in IMF delisting Sri Lanka from its third world books and naming as a most promising emerging economy in Asia.
Be it entertainment or investment, Sri Lanka has become one the most promising destinations in Asia. Indeed it is a land like no other. So come and join hands to become a part of our success.”
Pushpakumara also explained to the audience present that the CHOGM is being held in Asia, which is now a region of high growth and opportunity, after a lapse of 25 years, and that the Commonwealth Business Forum 2013 would be a useful platform for all countries to forge flourishing economic links and for business persons to interact with heads of Government and senior officials as well.
Hugh Morgan of First Charnock and the Business Council made a presentation on the Commonwealth Business Forum. He highlighted that several Commonwealth heads had already confirmed they would be speaking at the forum, which was expecting over 1000 delegates, in addition to their attendance at CHOGM. He also spoke about the economic value that would accrue in the wake of the CBF in Colombo, and the quantum of investments that have arisen from previous Commonwealth Business Forums held in Africa, the Caribbean countries and Australia. He also discussed the proposals for investment available in Sri Lanka and the potential for expansion of all sectors and pan-commonwealth trade.
Pushpakumara concluded by thanking all those who had taken the trouble to go and see for themselves the progress in Sri Lanka and welcomed all those present to the CHOGM or the three parallel fora, the Commonwealth Business Forum; Commonwealth Youth Forum; and the Commonwealth People’s Forum, and join in Sri Lanka’s renaissance.
The delegation has expressed interest in investing and promoting Sri Lanka.
