LANKAN FOREIGN POLICY LOPSIDED, SAYS EXPERT
The foreign economic policy of Sri Lanka was “lopsided”, Professor Razeen Sally, Associate Visiting Professor of the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said at a public lecture.
He made this remark in his lecture “Emerging World Order and Sri Lanka’s Role” which was delivered at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute on December 20.
Expressing the need to maintain positive ties with the Western world, he noted that the Western markets were the lifeblood of Sri Lanka’s economy.
Much of Sri Lanka’s economy is depended upon the EU market. .. only 1% of the exports of Sri Lanka reach China. Thus it is important to maintain good foreign economic ties with the EU
“It is not rocket science to realize that much of Sri Lanka’s economy is depended upon the EU market. However, when you consid- er China only 1% of the exports of Sri Lanka reach China. Thus it is important to maintain good foreign economic ties with the EU countries,” he aid.
Professor Sally who is also the director of European Centre for International Political Economy, the global think tank in Brussels noted that the European Union would breakaway sooner or later and added that a contingency plan was much needed for the Asian countries in the event if EU collapsed.
Professor Sally noted that by around 2015 China would rapidly lose the labour cost advantage. He also highlighted that by 2030 Asia would be responsible for bulk of the world’s trade.
In the backdrop of such circumstances he said that Sri Lanka also has to find a way to get into a global supply chain and added that the most viable method lies in the South India markets. “For both chauvinistic and defensive reasons I think Sri Lanka is keeping south India at arms length.