Financial Times

Privatisation no solution to public sector inadequacies

Complete privatisation of the public sector is not the answer to all the problems affecting the public sector or the way forward for Sri Lanka, according to Faizal Salieh, CEO, National Development Housing Bank and chairman of Human Resource and Education Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

"I think the way forward clearly lies in our ability as a nation to forge public-private partnership in all the activities," he told a public lecture in Colombo on 'The Public Service in Sri Lanka: What more needs to be done' organized by the Law and Society Trust.

To make such a partnership work "Sri Lanka needs a small but vibrant and efficient public sector that can work along with the private sector." He said that this would involve 'rightsizing' and strengthening the public service and making it more efficient rather than looking to complete privatisation as being the answer.

Salieh spoke of some main areas that need to be addressed to bring about the desired changes in the public sector. One is the structure of the public sector that is highly fragmented leading to duplication of entities and resulting in inefficient services.

The other is the focus of the public service itself in providing a service to the public. The accountability of public servants must also be institutionalised at every job level with a good performance management system, he said. A better competence training must be provided and while the de-politicisation of the system was also essential in building a good public sector, which is customer centred.

Giving a private sector view of the problem, Salieh said that Sri Lanka's public sector has reached a critical stage with constant complaints of a decline in the quality of service. There were also questions about its relevance in contemporary times. The public service is also referred to as pathetic, bureaucratic, authoritarian, highly politicised and one which in fact is distanced from the public.

Salieh encouraged the public to understand the current debate about the public service in the light of the emerging global model, which is based on current global thinking that governments should confine their roles to be a government and not try to own and manage the business economy. Therefore, the government should create the right policy framework and facilitate the efficient delivery of goods and services through the medium of private investments and act as a referee when things do not go right. (RC)

Peace, free trade deals seen luring investments

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce cited the peace process as well as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka as the main, advantageous factors in encouraging investments and trade in Sri Lanka.

"It is a very comforting thought for all of us to be talking about business development in this backdrop of peace talks and the foundation that has been laid for lasting peace in Sri Lanka," said Renton de Alwis, the CEO of the Ceylon Chamber at a meeting with a trade delegation from Latvia last week.

He encouraged the Latvian business delegation to take advantage of the FTA between India and Sri Lanka which would provide a platform from Sri Lanka for Latvian business people to do business at very advantageous terms, especially in setting up joint venture partnerships and investments in the country.

Thomas Daetwyler, the consul of the Republic of Latvia in Sri Lanka, said he hopes that "the visit of the delegation from the Republic of Latvia will further contribute to expand the relationship between the two countries."

De Alwis, in his address to the delegation, said, "Very soon Sri Lanka will enter into a similar FTA with Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. This is the advantage you'll have when you invest in our country."

He suggested that Latvian businesses form a partnership with the chamber which will help boost two-way trade, investment and joint ventures. The chamber already has 18 bilateral councils with their counterparts in other countries.

De Alwis told the Latvian delegates that the chamber would assist in any business by helping develop the right contacts to suit the needs of the country in question. (RC)

ABC launches IT superstore

By Akhry Ameer
Total solutions providers Advanced Business Computers (Pvt) Ltd (ABC) will venture into the supermarket concept in Information Technology when they open their IT superstore, ABC Techno Gallery tomorrow.

The new concept aims to keep in line with the new trend of service orientation and will offer customers a one-stop shop for all their IT requirements. Having been in the business for a decade and established its name among vendors and the industry, the superstore is part of a larger effort of ABC to reach its retail market directly.

"It does not mean that we will not concentrate on volume imports anymore. Over the years we have established our own product range and have been distributors for many brands and components. So the superstore will act as a window," explains T. Jayaseelan, a Director of ABC.

The Techno Gallery situated at Ward Place, Colombo 7 will differ from the usual office style of catering to the needs of customers and will be open till late throughout the year irrespective of holidays so that customers can freely do their IT shopping. Asked whether this newest addition was due to reasons such as price saturated markets, Asoka Jayawardene, another director of the company said that they still could compete on price but the superstore offers convenience and service.

"Today the market is varied with customer choices from brands to assembled brands. Many of the IT gadgets are sold without educating the customer. Further there is no proper place for pre and post sales supports like repairs and upgrades, and you don't know what you are getting for the price you pay. We are trying to play the advantages against these disadvantages," he explained.

The Techno Gallery's walk-in service counter attempt to diagnose problems of any IT hardware brought in for repairs over the counter, failing which the customer will be given an estimate and guaranteed turnaround time.

This would make possible a superior service flow that has been designed by the company incorporating other channels like fault repair via telephone. Other features of the superstore include a cyber cafe and business centre where customers can not only surf the net, but also accomplish their desk top publishing requirements.

Asked whether the superstores would be established in other cities, the officials were of the view that almost 70% of IT requirements are still Colombo centered and hoped to build a name for the concept and fully service this market before venturing out.

Back to Business