To achieve hub status there should be good governance in place, practice of rule of law in the country, an independent and active public service and strong institutions while the laws and regulations governing such areas as customs and licensing should be softer, said Prof A D V de S Indraratna, President, Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA).
He was speaking this week at a media briefing in Colombo to announce the holding of the SLEA Annual Sessions on October 15 and 16 at the Central Bank Auditorium, Rajagiriya. He said that to get something approved one has to fill so many documents, but he said that these procedures have to be simplified and the number of documents have to be reduced.
He said that these issues would be deliberated at the SLEA Annual Sessions and the deliberations would be converted into recommendations to be presented to the government. Prof Indraratna told the Business Times that earlier too they had made such recommendations to the government and some of them were implemented and the others were ignored.
He said that in this process there are other criteria to be met such as the matching investment and savings and today savings stands at 17% and investment at 27% and the gaps has to be bridged. They have to be increased as well as productivity. There should be provisions to increase savings and to reduce the budget deficit. To attract savings the interest rates should be increased.
He said that earlier the budget deficit was 9% and the government announced that it would be reduced to 8%.
The other important factor is Foreign Direct Investment. Prof Indraratna pointed out that it was doing very well in 2008 totalling $800 million. In 2009 it came down to $690 and now in 2010 stands at a low figure of $200 million. Stressing the importance of FDIs, Prof Indraratna said that along with FDIs come modern technology and promotion of niche markets.
He said that the sessions is their flagship event and this year’s theme is “Perspectives for Accelerated Growth and Development” and there would be a host of eminent resource persons to address the event.
Explaining the theme of the sessions, Prof Indraratna said that it is imperative that high economic growth percolates to the lower income strata and this is a necessary condition for reducing poverty and achieving development which will benefit everybody. |
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