‘Young Entrepreneurs’ want level playing field first
COYLE proposes six points: FTAs:
The Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) has called upon the
government to first set up a level playing field for Sri Lankans, before
proceeding with any further measures on trade or service liberalization,
through trade agreements including the ETCA with India.
Issuing a press release, COYLE proposed six points to set up
efficient regulatory mechanisms prior to conclusion of any international
or bilateral trade agreements.
The members also assured their commitment and support towards an
engagement in creating a fair playing field for Sri Lankans.
The COYLE proposals include:
The necessity to establish a manpower regulatory mechanism.Under
various trade agreements commercial presence of overseas companies are
facilitated and foreign employees are permitted to be employed in
companies established in Sri Lanka. We observe that there is no
mechanism or institutional arrangement to assess the qualifications of
such employees, regulate, and evaluate the necessity and the suitability
to be employed in the country, and finally authorize and register them
for employment.
Since, the objective of facilitating such employment is to acquire
special skilled manpower to the country, it is mandatory to establish a
proper regulatory mechanism for assessing the manpower requirement of
the country, evaluate and foreign manpower and register them for
employment.
Such a regulatory body in non-existent as at present and that has to
be established. Many other countries are maintaining efficient
regulatory mechanisms.
The necessity for scrutinizing and authorizing foreign investments:
a) We observe that there is a gap in assessing real economic benefits
to the country in terms of backward linkage, employment generation,
technology transfer, environmental factors, etc., when foreign direct
investment projects are approved by various institutions in the country.
As at present investments which do not make any positive contribution
to the country are getting in through various channels. Instead of
making a positive impact these investments continuously drain out
foreign exchange reserves of the country hindering real economic
development.
There is no need to allow foreign investments that will eventually
deteriorate the economy.Hence, we believe that there is a dire necessity
for establishing a single institutional mechanism for all FDIs, to
scrutinize and evaluate the suitability to the country rather than
merely looking at the face value of the investments.
b) We also request the government to revisit various investment
provisions previously granted from time to time by the Sri Lankan
government through gazette notifications in the past facilitating
undesired foreign investments.
The necessity for setting up proper domestic regulatory mechanisms
with regard to all services liberalized under GATS:
a) It is necessary to establish appropriate regulatory mechanisms in
order to avoid negative consequences that may occur due to services
liberalisation commitments made to GATS. This will ensure a fair level
playing field for domestic service providers against foreign service
providers.
b) It may also be necessary to negotiate with WTO on the necessary
rectifications of the Horizontal Commitments on GATS.
Urgency of activating Anti-Dumping measures in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka
is still to enact anti-dumping legislation to control dumping of
products causing major problems for domestic industries. Hence, there is
an urgency to enact strict ‘anti-dumping’ legislation.
Need of an effective National Trade Policy. We strongly believe that
the country’s international trade agreements should be aligned with the
National Trade Policy. Hence, we request the government to first
establish the national trade policy in consultations with all stake
holders, and then prepare all trade agreements to be in line with that.
Such a National Trade Policy should also be mindful of mergers and
acquisitions that may ultimately lead to unacceptable monopolised market
positions. Hence, it is vital for the National Trade Policy to address
this matter as well.
Other necessary legislation. The ‘Way Forward to Liberalisation’
document prepared by the professionals of Sri Lanka has been presented
to the government, and the trade chambers listing out important areas to
be strengthened prior to further liberalisation. We urge the government
to make a serious note of these requirements and take necessary steps to
prioritise and facilitate these. |