Not a single foreign investment agreement has been signed since Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed the presidency, said UNP activist Keshal Jayasinghe.
The general election candidate who contests under the ‘gas cylinder’ was addressing young entrepreneurs in Dehiwala yesterday (28).
He noted the basis for a country’s development is investments, which the state alone cannot fulfil.
Jayasinghe recalled what economist Joan Robinson had said as head of the first World Bank delegation to have visited Sri Lanka.
“Ceylon ate the fruit before she has grown the tree,” Robinson said, by which she meant that the country hd used up investment funding.
Rather than investments by the state, private investments are the key to a country’s development, said the election candidate.
For instance, Henry Ford pioneered the US economy, while it was Matsushita, Toyota and Hitachi for Japan, Hyundai, Kia, Dawoo, Samsung did it for Korea, while Ambani, Adani, Birla, Bajaj and Tata were the investors who developed India.
Are private investors the enemy?
Since independence, Sri Lanka treated private investors as the enemy, said Jayasinghe, adding the first attack against them came when the SLFP-led regime took over in 1956.
Private enterprises on the path to growth were taken over by the state, causing disappointed investors to leave the country.
The second attack came under the coalition regime of 1970, when it peoplised many private investments that had been growing since 1960.
Opposition by the parties
Private investors started getting encouragements only under the 1977 UNP government’s open economic system that brought in a large number of investors.
They helped to generate employment for the increasing workforce.
Jayasinghe charged the opposition always opposed private investments in order to gain political mileage.
Lessons learnt from Kandalama
Referring to the Kandalama hotel project which his father headed, Jayasinghe said environment impact assessments had been obtained and the intention was to recruit staff from the area.
Today, the project has ensured employment for a considerable number of area residents, while a large number of indirect job opportunities have also been generated.
Contrary to claims by opponents, the hotel has caused no damage to the tank or the environment in Kandalama.
Instead, value has been added to the ecosystem towards its preservation, he said.
Now, the country needs private investments for economic growth, for which confidence-building among the investors is essential.
The Ranil Wickremesinghe regime initiated efforts towards that end, with the economic transformation act incorporating all the required legislation, added Jayasinghe.