Business, labour welcome new Govt

Strong measures to reduce poverty - Employers’ Fed:

The newly elected Government will need to adopt strong measures to reduce poverty and accelerate the rate of economic growth to reach a middle-income country status by 2020, said Deputy Director General, The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Kanishka Weerasinghe.

This broad objective will need meaningful measures to raise resources for development, accelerate production in real sectors, improve macroeconomic management, control inflation, diversify exports, develop physical and human resources infrastructure and improve governance in economic, political and institutional fronts, which are essential for long-term economic growth and sustained poverty reduction, he said.

The current problems confronting the economy should be identified and steps taken by the new Government to solve the problems, Weerasinghe said. The government should create a national employment and human resources policy and assist the development of small and medium-sized businesses by reducing its financial and administrative expenditure.

The government should introduce legislation to ensure job security and increased wages for those in the private sector, creating conditions for attracting working capital and investment at affordable costs in the most important sectors and stabilising the banking system and creating a investment friendly mechanism for strategic companies.

The government should include stabilisation measures, import substitution, support for non-resource exports, reduction of business outlays and support for small and medium-sized businesses for stimulating economic growth and takes steps to create jobs in rural areas due to high level of unemployment in the rural sector. A major share of that responsibility rests on the private sector for accelerating economic growth, increasing jobs and incomes and providing the resources that will be needed.

Attract foreign investors - CMU

The most important task before the newly elected government is to accelerate economic growth by attracting foreign investors which will create more job opportunities and develop infrastructure, Secretary, Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Worker’s Union (CMU) Sylvester Jayakodi said.

Local industries using indigenous raw material should be encouraged to be competitive in foreign markets.

The government should introduce legislative measures to ensure job security and increase wages for those in the private sector, he said.

The government has a significant role to play in helping the private sector achieve its targets.

It is equally important that Government policies should facilitate global competitiveness.

The Government needs to provide a solid framework and set the conditions for the private sector to succeed.

The Government should encourage entrepreneurs because they can be considered as builders of a strong economy. More entrepreneurs means more jobs, more jobs means less unemployment, resulting in economic growth.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be strengthened and provided relief. Poverty alleviation programs must not be politically motivated, Jayakodi said.The government should also focus on the agricultural sector. Rice is considered an essential commodity by almost all citizens.

Since we are equipped with the facilities to cultivate this food source within our own borders, the new government must strive to develop pesticide free, environment-friendly paddy cultivation which would do away with imports. The government must prepare a more effective environment for the improvement of our tea, coconut, rubber and other profitable plantations while providing protection to small tea plantation owners, eradicating barriers to thriving coconut cultivations.