Friday, August 12, 2016

The US exhortations fall on deaf ears! Charles Rivkin’s hopes don’t materialize


The US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs is in town. He has been lecturing to our Entrepreneurs to partner with the US to grow the IT businesses which he has identified as world class and ready to get to the next level.


Sadly we have a very capable business leadership, but the Govt. has failed in supplying them with the raw material, which is the Human Resource with sufficient training in the basics for them to fulfill this need.

FDI which is the “sine qua non” of the Govt.’s plan for the Sustainable  Economic Growth that is needed to unleash the true potential will NOT come if the Govt. does NOT clean its act. First they must prosecute their own people who are engaged in Bribery and Corruption, before looking at past sins of the same, under the Rajapakses. It is the only way to put a stop to rampant corruption amongst their own people. The PM has the strength so to do, and the President is also frustrated that no one has actually been convicted of these daily occurring crimes against the state.

The American Ambassador Atul Keshap also speaking on the “National Trade Portal and Single Window Best Practices Forum” also tried to instill the importance of this practice, see link below for greater understanding”

It is simply now on the Government’s plate to effect the changes needed, and prepare the foundations for the entrepreneurs to take the challenge. The govt. for its part is NOT fulfilling its responsibilities so little wonder that we are not seeing the expected level of Investment.


It has been said time and time again that the environment for investment must change, with unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles being removed. They are only removed in theory, but in practice it is very different. Just ask the existing companies doing business in Sri Lanka today, and you will realize that they are operating under very trying circumstances and above all uncertainty with regard to Govt. policy, that appears to change on a daily basis with NO one knowing fact from fiction, as most Govt. officials are living in a fictional environment.

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