SL Govt. aims for political stability without authoritarianism, Deputy Minister says
Lee Kuan Yew, the late Prime Minister and founder of Singapore, created a model based on market economic policies and trade to engage in business enterprises in the country.
He was the architect of the Singapore economy, said the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Harsha de Silva addressing the launch of the “Millennium Development Goals Country Report 2014” in Colombo on Monday.
Referring to Sri Lankan politics, the deputy minister said that a national government will be formed following the elections to implement policies and strategies that are beneficial to the country. He said though many Asian and African countries tried to adopt the Singaporean model it wasn’t successful owing to political instability. “However, our aim is to bring political stability without any sense of authoritarianism and partisan politics even on a temporary basis. We want to have national policies on a number of areas and create a social market economy,” Dr. de Silva said. He said to create such an economy a suitable, highly competitive skilled labour force was essential not only in the domestic market but to compete in the global market. However Sri Lanka has not able to create such a conducive environment since labour was laid off when there was an economic downturn affecting enterprises. “We also do not want to bring in legislation that governs the salaries of the private sector.”
He however said that he does not agree with statistics in respect of poverty reduction in the estate sector as mentioned in the Millennium Development Goals Country Report 2014.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy said the Millennium Development Goals Report 2014 was a joint effort by the Sri Lankan government, the United Nations team based in Colombo and the Institute of Policy Studies. In the year 2000 Sri Lanka joined 188 countries in signing the Millennium Declaration which committed nations to a new global partnership and set out a series of targets with a deadline of 2015 that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals 2014 report show that the poverty line in Sri Lanka has dropped to 6.7 per cent of the population in 2012-2013 from 26.1 per cent in 1990-1991. The national poverty line is set by considering the minimum expenditure necessary per month for a person to be able to meet their basic needs. However poverty levels are highest in the estate sector at 10.9 per cent. The report also states that hunger and reducing the proportion of underweight children remains a policy priority for the government. Some 21.6 per cent of children below 5 years in Sri Lanka are underweight. As far as the youth literacy rate was concerned 14 per cent of children drop out before completing the Ordinary Level examination while 86 per cent of children within the ages of 1-16 remain in school. The report recommended the need to increase teachers for subjects like science, mathematics and English Language particularly in rural and remote areas and to increase opportunities for students after Advanced Level examinations through more university places and by helping students acquire skills they need for the job market. Several years ago children from the estate sector were less likely to go to school than children from rural and urban areas. They dropped out of school more often. However this has started to change with more girls and boys in the estate sector now being enrolled in primary education.
The report also showed that the unemployment rate among females was twice that of males. Some 6.6 per cent of women were unemployed while 3.2 per cent males were unemployed. Another interesting aspect was that the Sri Lanka Parliament comprises only 13 women out of 225 parliamentarians. Sri Lanka lags behind most of its neighbours where representation of women in parliament, was 5.8 per cent. In South Asia it stood at 17.8 per cent and globally it was 21.1 per cent. According to the UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, “Throughout the world, discrimination against women and girls is rampant and in some cases getting worse. But we also know equality for women is progress for all. Countries with higher levels of gender equality have higher economic growth. Companies with more women on their boards have higher returns. Peace agreements that include women are more successful. Parliaments with more women take up a wider range of issues – including health, education anti discrimination and child support. Gender equality and women’s empowerment have been a top priority for me from day one as Secretary – General”.
The report also states that Sri Lanka remains one of the few countries in the region with a low level HIV prevalence with less than 0.01 per cent of the population being infected. In 2012, 244 HIV cases have been reported. However with the increase of tourist arrivals and migration of population internally and externally there is a potential danger in the increasing infection rate, it said.