SL development not influencing return of expats

While the government is encouraging Sri Lankan expatriates to return back to the country, their return not influenced by the development that is taking place in the country, a top official in the private sector made this remark at a recent forum.

At the Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs ( COYLE) organised the Sampath Bank Chairman’s Forum at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, Ceylon Biscuits Group Director, Rasith Wickramasinghe, in making this observation, said that students from Sri Lanka should go abroad, study there, get the exposure and return to the country to start a business here.

“But most of them go as expatriates and do not return. They are not influenced by the development that is taking place in the country today,” he added.

Meanwhile East West Information Systems (E-Wis) Chairman and CEO Sanjeewa Wickramanayake, another panellist at the discussion, stressed that there is lack of support and encouragement from Sri Lankans on locally manufactured products and services. “We don’t get the encouragement from Sri Lankans on products made in Sri Lanka. There is lack of branding and communication among people about home grown products,” noted Mr. Wickramanayake.

He also mentioned that most corporates in Colombo have not explored the talent in the rest of the 25 districts in the country.

Elaborating on the need for development banks in Sri Lanka, Mr. Wickramanayake noted that Sri Lanka is short of development banks as far as the country’s economic growth is concerned.

Jackson Anthony, a famous actor in Sri Lanka who has a deep knowledge about the history of Sri Lanka, delivering his keynote mentioned that the country needs to look at the past, present and the future ( thun kal beleema).

Sri Lanka lacks home grown products that takes the name ‘ made in Sri Lanka’ to showcase at the global village where all other countries showcase their own products and services, noted Mr. Anthony. “For Sri Lanka to get into globalisation, we need to manufacture our own home grown products that takes the name ‘ Made in Sri Lanka’,” he added.

He also mentioned that Sri Lanka was a hub for international trade at that time where the Portuguese, Dutch and British were eying to capture the country using various techniques because of the well- known location of the country in the Indian Ocean, he noted. (RM)