‘State enterprises won’t be privatised’

The Secretary to the president Lalith Weeratunga gave an assurance that public enterprises will not be privatised and the government will make them efficient and profitable.

He was addressing the Experts Forum organised by the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) in Colombo last week. Weeratunga said that the government needs expertise from the private sector to make these State enterprises efficient and profitable.

A large number of professionals and experts from the private sector participated at the forum and they discussed the ways that the private sector professionals can share their views with SEMA.

New era

The country is getting rid of terrorism and a new era of independence is beginning. In this new era the country has to achieve a huge development task and for that partnership between public and private sector is essential, Weeratunga said. He said that a large number of expatriated Sri Lankan experts too are willing to share their knowledge and experience and SEMA will facilitate them as well.

Shown results

Chairman of SEMA, Willie Gamage said that during the last four years SEMA has shown results and proved that public enterprises can run efficiently and profitably. Initially 12 public enterprises including the two largest commercial banks that were on the verge of collapse were brought under SEMA in 2004. In 2005 another 8 public enterprises were brought under SEMA. Last three years SEMA has achieved impressive results and plantation companies managed by SEMA last year earned profits and we could give over Rs. 50 million to the Treasury, Gamage said.

We have stopped privatisation but it does not mean that everything should be done by the government. For instance the private sector can get government lands for cultivation or animal husbandry on lease. But the deals should be fully transparent. The State enterprises such as CEB, Railway, SLTB, CPC are running at a loss and SEMA has to intervene and make them profitable ventures. But we do not have expertise at the scale we need and the support from the private sector is vital, Gamage said.

(GW)