Inclusion of women productively vital - Eran

Steps should be taken to employ women who are an underutilised asset if economic reforms are to take shape in the country, Public Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Eran Wickremaratne told the 57th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka last week.

He said women are underutilised and inefficiently used in the workforce. A large number of women in the country still do not work. They remain housewives because the local industry does not pay them well. Many in the rural sector work because they are desperately in need of money.

“Inclusion of women productively in the workforce is vital to get to the next level of development. Women face many challenges such as unsafe public transport. Only a minute percentage accept jobs they feel is not conducive to them,” Wickramaratne said. Sri Lanka should change its way of treating women. Better working opportunities should be created for women. He underscored the need to support the micro enterprise sector to get to the next level of business with dedicated zones for such enterprises similar to China which has a vibrant micro enterprise sector.

“The slowing down of the global market will affect Sri Lanka. The government is committed to creating a social market economy backed by a private sector led growth. We will provide 1.5 million new land owners enabling the small and medium scale entrepreneurs to access funds from financial institutions,” he said.

“The government is aware of the concerns of the Economic and the Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India such as anti dumping measures and addressing non-tariff barriers. We need to find ways to interact with India which is poised to be the fastest growing economy soon. Export development is vital. The Export Development Board is taking steps to revive exports,” Wickramaratne said.

President, NCCSL, Thilak Godamanna said economic growth averaged 6.3 percent between 2002 and 2013, and Sri Lanka should try to keep the same momentum. While the unemployment level is around 4.4 percent, there are many districts that report unemployment rates that are higher than the national average.

“As a part of Sri Lanka’s structural and economic transformation, employment in primary agriculture may continue to decline, from its present share of 30 percent of the labour force, as other sectors of high productivity will absorb rural surplus labour. At the same time, along with productivity increases, agriculture is likely to become more capital intensive and technology-driven as labour shortages emerge. This was also addressed at the Sri Lanka Economic Forum last week,” he said.

Excerpts of his speech:

“Tea, rubber and paddy are considered to be critical agri-products in the economy and the National Chamber welcomes quick measures to solve problems faced by these sectors, and developing these sectors will have a greater positive impact on the economy. It is a fact our the country is import-dependent and always has a negative trade balance, mainly due to high oil imports.

It is mainly through private remittances that we manage to ease out the situation to some extent. We will have difficulties on private remittances as well, mainly due to the unfavourable economic situation in Middle Eastern countries. We are hopeful that low oil prices would have a positive effect and the administrators should manage this advantageous situation for the benefit of the country.

To develop exports more incentives should be provided for export-oriented manufacturing entities. Export-friendly freight charges would also be helpful in boosting the sector. We should study what competing countries offer to strengthen its export markets and take proactive action to compete.

The present status of the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and its impact on the economy of Sri Lanka should be carefully evaluated.

It is now clear that the Indo-Sri Lanka FTA signed on December 28, 1998 will be part and parcel of the new agreement (ETCA) that is to be signed soon.

The National Chamber is seriously concerned about tariff liberalisation and the preparation of negative lists under this agreement.

We would like to draw attention to the fact that Sri Lanka does not have anti-dumping regulations. Under this situation, the Sri Lankan economy can face serious difficulties and even be seriously damaged which we believe cannot be resolved easily.

Additionally, Sri Lanka should be more concerned of application of preferential measures to protest the Sri Lankan investors.

The authorities should pay considerable attention to trade in services and take measures to protect the economy from possible large scale interventions into the Sri Lankan economy by Indian companies which have the advantage of economies of scale.

While concentrating on all the aspects mentioned above, Sri Lanka should consider paying more attention to efficiency enhancers, innovation and business sophistication to further develop the economy.

Governments have a vital responsibility in providing a vibrant and sustainable environment for private sector growth. Without good rules, that are consistently and equally enforced, entrepreneurs have a harder time starting and growing the small and medium-sized firms that are the engines of growth and job creation for most economies around the world.

When we look at it in a broader manner, starting a business and employing workers, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency should have very efficient processors so that businesses could start and function smoothly. Thereby the ranking of Sri Lanka’s doing-business index could go up in the world ranking and Sri Lanka would be an attractive place for investment.

Because of climatic changes, Sri Lanka experienced excessive rain during the past year and it is predicted that we will have to face the worst drought this year. Therefore, I propose that we should start rain-water harvesting.

To do this, I believe that the government should financially help house owners by providing at least 59 percent of the capital for such efforts and encourage the private sector by offering soft loans. Such a practice was adopted by the Queensland Govrnment during its drought in 2007, and it was a success.”