As we continue to celebrate our seventy years’ of independence, we need to capture this as a ‘Kairos’ moment in our national history. We have come through many tests and challenging times and now are in the threshold of a tremendous nation-building period.
Fundamentally, we are an agro-economy based nation with traditional export orientations such as tea, rubber, coconut products, spices, gems and fish. 1977 heralded the beginning of a new period of economic growth in Sri Lanka and today Sri Lanka’s apparel export industry stands as the most significant and dynamic contributor for Sri Lanka’s economy growth. The industry has enjoyed epic growth levels over the past four decades and is one of Sri Lanka’s primary foreign exchange earner accounting to 40% of the total exports and 52% of industrial products exports.
New areas of growth
Tourism industry is emerging as Sri Lanka’s second largest foreign exchange earner, with the steadily growing arrival of tourists. Sri Lanka has over 1,000 star class hotels and also luxury hotels, boutique hotels, guest houses, apartments etc and this number is increasing on a daily basis, as Sri Lanka forges ahead to become a thriving tourist hub. Encouraging steps are being taken to deal with off season misconceptions and to brand Sri Lanka as an all year round preferred tourist destination. For example, when it is off season in the South, it is ideal time for a range of tourist attractions and activities in the East and North of Sri Lanka.
All this have become a reality today, because right steps of investment and guidance were taken in the area of tourism. Rather than only confining to traditional - cultural tourism attractions, enterprising strategies were followed to develop other potential districts. Kalpitiya is a good example for an area that started to develop as a leading adventure tourism location only a few years ago. Many famous beaches in Arugambay, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts which got neglected during the civil war period are now slowly being restored to their former glory. There are elaborate plans to restore and develop the eastern coastline, which has some of the finest beaches in the world. Similar plans are underway to develop north as a preferred destination including Mannar. All these are encouraging signposts to attract interested investors who can help release the potential and wealth of tourism in these districts together with the communities who have been inhabitants of these regions for generations.
Support from other countries
As we make plans to further our vision to develop the country, we also need to learn to collaborate with countries that are showing keen interest to help us get there. For example, Korea, China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Germany, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland and New Zealand, all have been good friends of Sri Lanka. We need embrace their assistance to get us to where we want to be. We have the choice to determine our future. All these countries have certain hallmarks for which they are well-known and we can rely on their expertise and investments to build our nation along those areas. It is up to us as a country to negotiate the best terms of engagement, so that our alignment and association with them become win-win scenarios for our people as well as theirs.
Shifting times
These are also times to watch. For example, World Health Organization (WHO) ranks Sri Lanka’s suicide rate at a precariously very high level. It is a widely-held belief that Sri Lanka has one of the highest suicidal rates in the world.
Why is this? Is it because, we have unwittingly neglected to hear and address the basic needs of some segments of our society in our quest to rebuild our nation? Someone said, “Suicide can be used as a way of communicating something to another person that they find difficult to communicate”. We need to usher hope into the hearts and minds of our youth, women, single parent homes and the aging population.
The Sri Lankan DNA
Sri Lanka is gaining a new identity world over. For so long, we have been divided along the lines of racial and religious boundaries for our own detriment. There is rising a remnant that is scaling beyond these borders.
They are sending a new trumpet sound for oneness – to be recognized as Sri Lankans.We are diverse, yet it is our diversity that gives us the strength to be one – one Sri Lanka in our goals and mission. Not everybody thinks this way. But, this remnant which consists of different generations is fully bought into this way of thinking – they are proud be born and called Sri Lankans. In these tough days ahead, it is this remnant that will be called upon to show the way to the rest of Sri Lanka.