Transforming economy to exportled growth challenging
Sri Lanka has its back to the wall on options available for developing the economy after the former regime’s mistakes and charting a correct course has its own challenges, the Development Strategies and International Trade Minister said yesterday.
“Making this transition from debt-financed public investment and import substitution to a private sector-led export and Fdi-led development strategy remains challenging but it is the only option available for Sri Lanka at present,” Malik Samarawickrama said.
Speaking at the World Export Development Forum (WEDF) 2016 inauguration, where the chief guest President Maithripala Sirisena, who was billed as a speaker, did not address the gathering, Samarawickrama said that the government would work to reverse the antiexport sentiments in the country.
Noting that free trade agreements (FTAS) with diverse markets would be the perfect remedy for the malady, he said that the future FTAS would serve the country’s best interests.
“We are negotiating agreements with an open mind but of course with the intention of getting the best possible deal for our country,” he said.
However, he said that the current government is aware of trade disruptions, which could occur during the transition.
“We are aware that there will be some trade disruptions during this process and our government will come up with a trade adjustment package for our local industrialists to upgrade their machinery, to be more competitive,” Samarawickrama said.
He said that support would be given to the industrialists to serve the local, regional and global markets.
A number of industrialists have been opposing the government’s stance of opening up the country’s economy further, given the past failures of creating free trade, rhetoric that is cropping up all over the world, especially among the current regime’s closest allies in the US and Europe. Sri Lanka now seems to be following a policy of becoming closer to India and China.
Samarawickrama noted that despite the stalling of the global trade liberalization process following the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Rounds, Sri Lanka can only develop further by exporting innovative products to the rising Asian markets.
Sri Lanka had skipped the industrialization process, becoming a domestic services-oriented economy that depends on the receipts of women labour in slave-like conditions in the Middle East and apparel exports.
Taking a page out of India’s economic policy, Development Strategies and International Trade State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe said that the government would institute a ‘Make in Sri Lanka Programme’ and speed up improvements in digitalization, bureaucracy and logistics by the end of this year to boost exports. Samarawickrama added that Sri Lanka is ready for business from foreign investors looking to set up export operations and is working constantly to improve the ease of doing business.