Sri Lanka invests $ 2 b on infrastructure - Dr Amunugama
by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI
Sri Lanka is investing heavily to develop its infrastructure. An
investment of US$ 2 billion to upgrade roads, rail tracks, airports and
power will be the main driver of GDP into the next decade said Public
Administration and Home Affairs Minister and Finance and Planning Deputy
Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.
Dr. Amunugama told the World Economic Forum-India Economic Summit
held in New Delhi, India that to facilitate this growth, Sri Lanka’s aid
pattern has been modified. The traditional donors in the West have been
supplanted by India, China, Japan, Iran and Libya.
He said that Sri Lanka is entering a new phase of economic growth
after the three-decade conflict. Sri Lanka has been growing at an
average five percent per year for nearly a decade. In the past five
years its per capita GDP had doubled. At the end of 2008 GDP per capita
stood at US$ 2,000 which the country hopes to increase to US$ 5,000 in
the next five years, he said.
Connectivity, proximity to India and India’s rise as a global
economic giant will have an effect on Sri Lanka. There was an agreement
that the Indian and Sri Lankan private sectors should take their
relationship to the next level, he said. Located midway between the
Middle East and East Asia, Sri Lanka is well positioned to become a hub
for financial services in IT and Telecom. Sri Lanka can position itself
as an alternative to Dubai for Indian and Pakistani business leaders who
wish to discuss shared opportunities, he said.
The Minister said there are tremendous opportunities in Sri Lanka
which is now self-sufficient in basic cereals. The country’s largest
industry, tea production had passed the US$ 1 billion mark. It is also
an attractive destination for tourists from South Asia and around the
world. The private sector accounts for 80 percent of the economy in Sri
Lanka, he said.
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Anura Ekanayaka and John Keells
Holdings Chairman Susantha C. Ratnayaka also participated.
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