The current global crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic must be considered a historic opening to overhaul the country, leveraging on rare opportunity opening up on multiple fronts says Contingency Intelligence & Response Agency (CIRA).
“These will be difficult times but while there’s an overload of doomsday theories, Sri Lanka must approach the catastrophe resourcefully and courageously, seizing the opportunity that presents itself for a much-needed course-correction, in the same way it has commendably handled the pandemic, to-date!”
“However, the Sri Lankan government will do well not to allow the advantage secured in the war against the Corona virus to be wiped out by opening too soon and without a far-sighted strategy. Statistics coming out from the global Covid battle fronts do not allow for clear tactical assessments as government’s battle a first-time enemy.
“There is some hindsight coming from the Spanish Flu of 1918-20, the most compelling at this time being the fact that the virus reemerged several times until a vaccination finally defeated it. Most interventions to the pandemic at present seem to be happening based on assumptions as researchers look for string evidence.“We believe the credit should go to the government for sensing the magnitude of the impending threat to human life early and quickly mobilizing the security forces to combat COVID19 under the knowledge and expertise of Sri Lankan medical professionals.” Sri Lanka must now approach the re-opening of the country with calculated caution yet find the courage to seize the opportunity to correct-course. Analysts around the world are putting Western democracies and their response to the pandemic under the microscope against that of countries like China, Singapore and yes, Sri Lanka.
However, the need arises to infuse same clarity and discipline into the democratic machinery to ensure Sri Lanka capitalizes on the ‘Crisis-Opportunity’.
On the other hand, Covid-19 lockdowns have heralded huge victories on the climate front and have exposed debilitating shortcomings from how we handle our food security to supply chains.Policy architects must now draw up a new road map that will put the country back on the track to attaining sustainable development goals, building an equitable landscape built on the fundamentals of the triple bottom-line – profits, people and the planet.
The impending global recession with Europe and USA in turmoil will dent Sri Lanka’s exports and the country must now look inwards, building a vibrant domestic economy, in the interim while using the strategy for greater industrialization on the cutting-edge of innovation. The government must mobilize the country’s top minds in diversified spheres in developing a plan to reboot the economy.
Headquartered in Sri Lanka, CIRA’s partners are SAARC Development Fund, University of Colombo and Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry.
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