New book on National Economic Development
View(s):The latest addition to the literature on economic development strategies is a book by development economist, Lloyd F Yapa. Titled “Export Competitiveness and Alleviation of Poverty in South Asia, with special reference to Sri Lanka”, the book deals with the formulation of development strategies, an enabling environment for attracting investment, the structure and performance of exports, export competitiveness, innovation and differentiation of goods and services for export, productivity of social and physical infrastructure, productivity of land, labour and capital, effective leadership, development strategies in miracle economies and overall conclusions.
The late Professor A.V.D. de S Indraratna had stated in his foreword to the book that, “‘This book by Lloyd Yapa titled Export Competiveness and Poverty Alleviation in South Asia with special reference Sri Lanka could not have been published at a better time than this when a new Government is in power in this country with a policy commitment of sustained high growth with inclusiveness.”
He has said that the contemporary economic scene of Asia including Sri Lanka, increasing export incomes is a sine qua non for sustained high growth, and raising productivity and global competitiveness in exports is crucial for raising incomes from them. “In sum, Lloyd Yapa’s Export Competitiveness and Poverty Alleviation in South Asia with special reference to Sri Lanka is a very comprehensive study on export competitiveness and alleviation of poverty, even going beyond into the realm of overall growth and development. The author seems to have done a considerable amount of work over the years for this study and much research has gone into it. On the whole, this publication is a storehouse of statistical data and factual information which will serve the researcher in development economics with much material for further work and the policy maker and the administrator much needed guidance for policy reform for sustained high growth with inclusiveness. It will also be a valuable addition to a library of publications in Development Economics’. The publishers of the book are Godage & Brothers Ltd., Maradana.