Young academics should think new and think ‘out-of-the-box’, to build Sri Lanka, said Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawicrama.
Professionals and young academics should develop new thinking on Sri Lanka’s socio-economic advancement, he said speaking at the ‘Saman Kelegama Memorial Symposium.’
Saman Kelegama’s legacy lives on through the research papers and books he authored, the young economists he inspired and of course, the institution he built. The Institute of Policy Studies is now widely recognised as a regional ‘Centre of Excellence’, and in large part due to his efforts. Economists who were trained and mentored by him, are now actively contributing to development initiatives in several capacities, including in my own Ministry.
“As policymakers have over the past 25 years and in the future too will rely on the IPS to provide credible and rigorous economic analysis to help us formulate better policies for the betterment of the people. In 2015, our government identified the need to reorient the economy towards trade and investment – something that Saman had been advocating for some time and he agreed to guide this work. He was Sri Lanka’s chief trade negotiator for three bilateral Free Trade Agreements and took on this role at a time when the country’s growth orientation had been skewed towards an inward-looking, public infrastructure driven model.”
During, Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement bilateral negotiations prior to signing of the FTA, the Singaporean Prime Minister made special mention of and paid a specific tribute to Dr. Kalegama.”
Saman Kelegama was a true professional and a true patriot and always put the country first. However some opponents of the FTA with India even had the audacity to brand him ‘a RAW agent’ or an ‘economic hit man’. A private sector individual went to the extent of getting his employees to protest on the streets with placards attacking him.” He was deeply hurt and disturbed by these baseless and malicious allegations by a handful of people and organizations, particularly the GMOA.
“These are the people who are against progressive steps being taken for the future of our country. They tried to question his patriotism, but actually it was they who are unpatriotic - putting their own interests above those of our country. We owe Saman a debt of gratitude for the immense contribution he made to Sri Lanka’s trade policy and economic reform work – not just with our government, but with successive governments before that,” he added.
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