An
article in the prestigious Forbes Magazine yesterday (24th September
2012) is shown below along with the link.
Can Burma
Leapfrog Sri Lanka?
With the rapid-fire opening of
Burma/Myanmar stemming from apparently real reforms under new President Thein
Sein, an intriguing regional competition may develop. Across the Andaman
Sea lies another economic laggard of recent decades, Sri Lanka. Will the
Burmese leapfrog it?
To the degree the Burmese closed economy has
been measurable, its output has lagged Sri
Lanka’s by GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity. This, despite the fact
that Burma’s population is considerably larger. The
two countries share a sorry recent history of socialist and/or kleptocrat
rulers who deprived their countrymen of what appeared to be prosperous times in
the post-colonial independence that followed World War II. (Both were
once huge rice exporters, for example.)
But a wave
of excitement has swept through international investors as Burma’s latently
rich natural-resource economy–and remarkable human resources–may be opened up
to global markets. Sri Lanka, to be sure, for a time inspired hope following
conclusion of its long, bloody civil war between the Sinalhese government and
the Tamil Tiger warlords in 2009.
However, the conquering majority in Sri Lanka
apparently is not making good on those hopes, continuing policies that repress
the potentially productive Tamils (and stifling a free press as well). The
ungenerous leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his coterie threatens to delay further the
realization of Sri Lankan promise, beyond the opening of a few nice tourist
beaches.
Might it be
that the best hope for the Tamil people and so many others in their nation
rests in the government of a country, Burma, whose rulers themselves have waged
harsh war on dissident ethnics? Competition finds a way to influence even where
justice seems denied by the authorities
Whilst
it is only one opinion, it is interesting to note that Myanmar is doing something
right, after years in the wilderness. Sri Lanka on the other hand with short term
jingoistic policies seems to have stifled the possibility of growth.
It
is clear that the Govt. is to blame for this schizophrenic behavior that has affected
the future of the Country and its citizens adversely. It is not too late to change
tack and try to reverse the rot, however even Sri Lankan businessmen are leaving
the shores and going to Myanmar to explore their potential in favor of their own.
What a thumbs down for the administration.
We
live in hope that we have leaders who are humble and have regard for best intentions
of their country and not their own and their family’s future.
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