The historic two-thirds victory, the National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has obtained will entice the Tamil diaspora to look at Sri Lanka in a new light, said Executive Director, Yalpanam (Jaffna) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. V. K. Vignesh.
He said that on many occasions the Tamil diaspora made a concerted effort to invest in the North but politicians as well as some senior Government officials wanted ‘favours’ even before the FDIs came to the region.
Dr Vignesh said that the people in the area wanted a change as they felt that most of the Tamil politicians who had been there for many decades enriched themselves but not the people. “The Northern people need better governance and this is why the NPP was elected and they are for a system change,” he said and added the farmers in the area also supported the NPP as they felt that they could get a better price for their produce under an NPP Government as unnecessary imports of similar agro products grown in the North would be done away with.
The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers’ Association (FTZMA) commended the new NPP Government and said that the people had faith in it and this is why a historic majority was given to them.
“Now it’s up to the Government to deliver as now they have all the power needed to do so,” said the FTZMA President Dhammika Fernando.
Referring to the BOI companies he said a foreign investor shut down operations in Sri Lanka as some supporters of some political parties invaded his factory and caused huge damage.
There are also similar issues when contracts are awarded to clear industrial waste in Zones. “We have brought up this matter with the Government but for reasons best known to them, no action had been taken by the ruling party which encourages such incidents to continue,” he said.
Dr Vignesh said most of the NPP members entering Parliament know ground level issues especially with regard to corruption, red tape and inefficiency and they could help to correct them and put the country on a better footing.
“We call upon the new Government not to make the BOI a humongous white elephant by creating divisions following the Economic Transformation Act of the failed Ranil Wickremesinghe regime”, they said.
“Steps should be taken to make the reforms within the BOI and make it investor-friendly, corruption-free, enable ease of doing business and make the rhetoric of the single window initiative a reality” he said and added “The FTZMA will support the Government by providing guidance and advice if needed.”
President, COSMI Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) Nawaz Rajabdeen said that the Micro and Small industries were operating with great difficulty and many have been forced to shut down.
“This sector which is the backbone of the economy needs a financial injection to reawaken and for this they are looking towards a special bank that will provide them financial assistance at low interest and collateral for them to kick start their business,” he said.
Moreover, they are also looking at better sustainable industrial infrastructure and access to new technology to improve their existing business. A low electricity tariff too is something they are looking at , he said.
The traditional industries too are finding new local and foreign markets with the new Government eliminating the ‘middleman’. “We like to see new products included in Sri Lanka’s export basket,” he said.
