The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) would call for a constructive policy framework from the government which would design to enable growth. We would also continue to seek transparency and consistency, said new Chairperson, CCC, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya at the 180th Annual General Meeting held at the Cinnamon Grand.
“We would assume as a fundamental deliverable government, the fostering of national harmony and the maintenance of law and order. We would also seek the setting up and execution of progressive fiscal and monetary policies – the confidence espoused by the global debt market in the recent dollar bond issuance is indicative of the positive role Government continues to play in this regard.”
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| New Chairperson, CCC Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya addressing the AGM |
“While continuing to applaud those institutions and individuals within the public sector who play a pivotal and sacrificial role in advancing our nation, we would also call for the installation of a meritocracy and the eradication of corruption at a fundamental and structural level.”
Dr. Wijayasuriya said that they referred not just to the direct leakage of Rupees and Cents, but also the cost of bad decisions and even the inaction which are motivated by factors other than national interest.
“We are confident that Private sector positivism to combine with a constructive and enabling role of government and a renewed focus on inclusive development, could rapidly transform the deficits in business confidence locally, as well as globally among foreign direct investors – in combine setting of a fresh trajectory for economic growth in the years to come.”
As we look forward to the years ahead, we dream of a ‘new system’– we identify the enshrining of the principles of integrity, unity, equality and an underlying meritocracy as the foundation of creating such a ‘new system.’
He said that Sri Lanka today, is a US$ 90 billion economy and when placed within a set of 10 comparable regional peers, comprising of all SAARC nations plus Indonesia and Malaysia from ASEAN, Sri Lanka’s economy is ranked the 4th smallest in absolute terms.
“Sri Lanka could be proud however, of the fact that we hold a third rank in terms of per-capita GDP and also the highest ranked within SAARC. However, it is a concern that our growth rate of 3.7% is the lowest - that is ranked 10th in this same 10 country set. Moving forward, we need to be concerned about this, which also throws headlights on national competitiveness and the question as to whether Sri Lanka as a private sector have focused sufficiently on building competitive advantages as a pathway to growth.”
“Significantly, our nation today is threatened by the emergence of sinister clouds of extremism and radicalization, which if unabated would fracture the unity and collective momentum of Sri Lanka’s economy. Sri Lanka must look at achieving a 7 to 8% growth within the next 5 Years. Today, 17 committees within the Chamber eco-system are working on bringing together a private sector led action plan towards reaching a US$ 140 billion economy, combined with 7% growth rates and regionally bench marked social development indices by the year 2025.”
“Leading the resurgence as opposed to hoping for brighter externalizes, is the mindset change the private sector would need to undertake in these times of uncertainty.”
“The future of our economy as well as our nation at large, would be what we make of it. We are born to a nation blessed with world class talent. We have in our midst large, medium and small enterprises who in their own right, are global, regional and domestic champions – a private sector which has collectively weathered many waves of economic, political and external turmoil over the past 3 decades and which had on all occasions, bounced back to a trajectory of growth, by creating a foundation for peace and harmony in its wake.”
“We must also lead the way in epitomizing and protecting national unity and harmony. The private sector – large and small have the unique potential to play an exemplary role in espousing the undisputed sensibility of securing national harmony as a fundamental - leaving no room for the embers of irrationality and opportunism disrupt our journey.”
He also said that today, the world in entering an era where the large cannot flourish without the small and it is always more profitable to include rather than exclude. “It is an era where a collective and non-partisan, nation minded and context focused organization such as our Chamber has a very important role to play. It also represents a calling for us to align and exploit these mega trends in the interest of economic and social advancement, based on the fundamental of social equity.”
The Chamber would continue to bring together energy as well as the aspirations of the private sector in articulating our collective vision for the country’s economy and would also enable eco-system linkages across the full spectrum of the economic pyramid, as well as across industry sectors and provide a platform for alignment, dialogue and collaboration with the government.”
“As we move forward in to the 2020 - 25 period, we are no doubt entering an era of exponential change - a period during which we would see a quantum transformation in the foundations of global competitiveness and a phenomenal opportunity for smaller and agile nations.”
The capturing of this opportunity would however need us to exploit with keen awareness, the mega trends, realities and tools of this emerging age. There are 4 transformational trends which I believe would provide us a springboard to leapfrog.
“First, the ethos of Inclusion and the thesis of Inclusive Capitalism, second, the mega trends around the fourth Industrial Revolution. Third, the power of eco-systems and fourth the acceleration of pervasive Globalization.”
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