By Sanath Nanayakkare

When the United National Front for Good Governance forms the next government, parliament will have 20 Oversight Committees to supervise the work of the government institutions and to keep a tab on public expenditure, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe said yesterday delivering the keynote address at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2015, organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.

“While ministers or deputy ministers won’t be appointed to head these committees, the committee heads will be selected from all the parties in parliament,” the Prime Minister said.

The two-day Sri Lanka Economic Summit (August 4 and 5) takes the theme” Towards Exports of US$ 50 billion”. It hosts interactive sessions among private sector leaders, government policy makers and experts and provides the ideal platform to brainstorm innovative ideas on achieving the vision of US$ 50 billion in exports and strategically positioning Sri Lanka in the global economy.

The Prime Minister speaking further said,” The economic pain of the country needs to be shared equally among all sections of the country, and it mustn’t be burdened only on the broader masses. We need to do what we need to do because we can’t afford to delay it any more. We have got to be willing to bite the bullet to make it.

“Our fate is not against us. Our mindset is. We have suffered enough. We need to shed pseudo-nationalistic rhetoric and create all freedoms that will create an open society. After we have collectively formulated the national policies, we can argue and debate on peripheral issues.

“The theme of your summit fits in well with the economic programme of the government to be implemented in 60 months which will create a new country. The five point plan of the government is; building the economy, fighting corruption, ensuring freedoms, developing infrastructure and investment and developing education. These are not mere promises. They are well thought out policy goals.

“The Ceylon Chamber has set its target of exports at US$ 50 billion. To achieve such ambitious targets, Sri Lanka needs to be looking outward. After elections, we will reach out to USA, India, China, Singapore etc. for economic agreements.

“We’ll need the next generation reforms to bridge the economic and development gap between Sri Lanka and South East Asia; namely Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Then we will be able to reach a level of development which will enable us to create an additional million jobs and income sources. To help achieve this objective, we need a highly competitive workforce, therefore, a new technical education system will be established to upgrade skills from craft level to degree level. The ‘English for All’ programme will be implemented islandwide to expand English language skills among all citizens. A voucher system will be introduced to provide grants and credit facilities to students engaged in higher education studying technical, vocational and degree courses.

“With a view to creating a strong middle class with higher income and broad-based ownership, we’ll convert state land permits issued to smallholder farmers into freehold land. We will transfer ownership of government flats to long-term tenants. Further, small scale investors will be given loan facilities up to Rs. 500,000, and they will be encouraged to invest in the Stock Exchange. This will pave the way for broad share owning democracy.

“The government will bring in new legislation to create a level field for all private sector participants in the national economy. A lower tax regime will be implemented across a broader tax net. De-politicization of revenue services will eliminate corruption in the service and facilitate efficient collection of revenue.

“Sri Lanka has to be globally competitive to enter high-yield foreign markets and obtain its share in manufacturing, services, agricultural and fisheries products. We are aiming at increasing the country’s competitiveness through a number of ways. These include; integrating farmers and small scale entrepreneurs to the global economy, encouraging foreign firms which are globally competitive to invest in Sri Lanka, empowering Sri Lankan enterprises to be competitive in the global market with higher productivity.

“The GSP+ now gives us access to the European market of 500 million people with concessional tariff. Today, we’re working to get the ban on fisheries products lifted.

“Our demographics have peaked and lulled. We need to face that too. We need to enable people to achieve social mobility. Skills education, job-oriented degrees, affordable housing for all, long commutes to workplaces etc., are our concerns, and we’ll take action to tackle them. Meanwhile, our women population should be empowered to elevate to managerial and executive jobs.

“We will set up economic development mega zones. These zones will be provided with infrastructure facilities and services on a par with similar zones in South East Asia. This will attract foreign direct investment as high competitiveness in manufacturing, services, technology, logistics, agriculture, fisheries and tourism can be achieved. As a result, it will help create well-paid jobs for the skilled workforce of the country.

“We have the capacity, if we have the collective will, we can move forward in line with this vision, the Prime Minister said.

Courtesy:The Island