Opening night at the CCC Economic Summit

By Antony Motha

When you’re at the summit, you must be closer to the stars. The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2007 was no different. The stars were all there, at their brilliant best – Naoko Ishii of World Bank, Richard Vokes of ADB, British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott, Swiss ambassador Ruth Flint, several members of the diplomatic community, a sprinkling of ministers and a strong delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Wider growth will address social issues-Dayananda

On the sidelines of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2007 (SLES-07), Mahen Dayananda, Chairman, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, spoke to The Sunday Times FT. Some excerpts:

Objectives of SLES-07
The main objective is to address the huge mismatch in regional development. The Western province has a per capita income approaching US$2,000, which is very impressive. However, the situation is very different in the regions. Moneragala is at US$600; we cannot justify this disparity any longer.

The main issue that we intend to address is the development of infrastructure, which is so important in addressing imbalance. The more regional imbalances there are, the more the potential for dissatisfaction.

The Western Province is so active and productive because we have much better infrastructure than the regions do. We have the port; the only international airport in the country is 45 minutes from Colombo. We want to come to some affirmative action to address these issues.

Widening growth will address several issues apart from economic development - social issues, most definitely. It can contribute to a rapid settlement of our ethnic problem; with economic prosperity, the people’s mindset changes.

SLES: History and Achievements
There have been five ‘business conventions’ previously. This is only the second economic summit. The significant difference is that we have been upgrading.

The main point of departure is the increased number of participating ministers. We are doing this with a chosen partner - the Board of Investment, to add value by encompassing a much wider spectrum.

We are looking at the Indian model where CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) has an annual economic summit that is on a public – private partnership basis. Most leaders relevant to the economy participate at the forum: Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Commerce and Industry Minister. That is what we are trying to replicate.

Foreign investment
Foreign investment is definitely required to develop our infrastructure. We most definitely need inputs - not always investment, but foreign technology.

We also need to add value to a number of our commodity exports. Tea and spices are classic examples of where we need to go up the value-addition chain. For that, we need foreign technology, specifically for upgrading quality standards. Today, tea has moved from being a bulk commodity to being an ISO-certified product. That’s no longer enough; we have to be HACCP-certified. All this means investment, technology, and foreign inputs.

On IT and BPO:
HSBC, ‘the world’s local bank’, has a BPO facility in Colombo that was entirely driven by foreign input in terms of how it was set up. Similarly, the font of IT in Asia is India, whose input is going to be essential.

To Avoid ‘Talk Shop’ Label
Extensive notes will be maintained by the CCC throughout the summit. We will extricate the important issues that emerge from the deliberations. Having done that, we will prepare a document encompassing them all and present it to the government, who will take it very seriously.

At another summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, world leaders were discussing the state of the planet on Wednesday. But – at the Cinnamon Grand – all eyes were riveted on Sri Lanka. It was, as Dhammika Perera, Chairman/ Director General, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, put it, “the ideal forum for all in the public and private sectors, to pool resources and formulate future strategies”.

Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge delivered a message from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in which he pointed out that last year’s GDP growth of 7.4% had been the result of careful planning and effective implementation. Even so, he emphasised the need to sustain an average annual growth rate of 8% over the next five years, in order to perceptibly raise living standards.
In sync with the summit’s theme, ‘Spreading the Wings of Development’, Chief Guest Dr Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Enterprise Development & Investment Promotion, stressed the need to develop outlying areas to counter regional imbalances. A focus on infrastructure – roads, power and water – would bring rural areas also into the growth trajectory. Dr Amunugama indicated that, led by the service sector, the Western Province had recorded a growth rate of 12%.

Quoting from a Newsweek article, Dr Amunugama said that India’s middle class of 50 million people would multiply ten-fold by 2012. “Which other island nation can boast of being twenty miles away from the world’s biggest market?” he gloated, indicating that Sri Lanka’s hub status would be a crucial factor during the next decade.

Commending the private sector for being model employers, Dr Amunugama specifically alluded to the positive image that the garment industry had earned by adopting best practices.

Guest Speaker Arun Nanda, Chairman/ Managing Director of Rediffusion DY&R, spoke of the need to brand Sri Lanka for the global market.

Such a brand must emanate from the characteristic of its people. A national brand identity could even catalyse renewed patriotism, he opined, in addition to acting as a powerful endorser. Suggesting ‘Gifted Commitment’ as a brand value proposition for Sri Lanka, he said that the country’s cricket team epitomized exactly such a spirit.

Nanda recommended a three-pronged approach to address prevailing negative perceptions. First, restrict the Sri Lankan market to South Asia, which is more balanced in its perception of violence. Second, counter-reference the issue – like Ireland did by localizing the plague of terrorism to Belfast. Third, host a major sporting event and “let that experience be your media”.

The summit is being hosted by The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.

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