No need to worry- Tittawela
President Chandrika Kumaratunga will be meeting members of the business community to explain the current situation and reassure them that the peace process and economic reforms were on track, her adviser Mano Tittawela said.

"The president remains totally committed to a peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict," he said. "The ceasefire will stand. It is business as usual. She supports the peace process which she started herself. Her commitment to the peaceful resolution of the ethnic problem is unwavering." The business community need not have any worries about the economy, he said. "The president would be talking to the business community in future," he added. "This will be done in the normal course of her duties."

ittawela, senior advisor and senior director-general to the president, said Kumaratunga had promised to reconvene parliament on November 19 and that the People's Alliance would give of its own time to ensure that the budget be passed by the end of the year.

Tittawela said much of the recent uncertainty was caused by misinformation and rumours. Asked what the President would do to calm the fears of the business community, he said: "I don't see what the fears are. One aspect of it was the rumour of an emergency, which was not true and which created rumour-driven panic.

Everybody should take a step back and not be driven by wild rumours. There was no need to panic since no action had been taken by either party to jeopardise the peace process or the smooth running of government," he said.

Investments on hold- Mahendran
Up to $150 million worth of investments have been put on hold and could be at stake because of the uncertainty caused by the current political crisis, Board of Investment chairman and director general Arjunna Mahendran said.

"The crisis has spooked investors," he said. "They keep asking us - 'will your president scuttle the peace talks." About $125 - 150 million worth of investments are on hold," Mahendran said.
These include five projects, each with an average investment of around $25 million, with a total employment capacity of 15,000.

"They would have taken off in the next three months and been operational by the third quarter of next year," Mahendran said.

Among the projects on hold is a call centre project with employment prospects for about 3,000 people and three mills to have been set up by European firms to supply raw material to the textile industry, which is going in for backward integration.

Mahendran said the BOI was doing its "utmost" to reassure investors unnerved by reports of an emergency being declared by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and pictures of soldiers on the streets. "Investors are going on the assumption that the LTTE and the government will come to an agreement in the future," Mahendran said.
"The BOI is talking to investors on a continuing basis."