Duminda Hulangamuwa, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), expressed dissatisfaction with an economy growing below 3% in the private sector. He emphasized the necessity for the economy to achieve an annual expansion of at least 4-5% to foster job creation and innovation. Hulangamuwa conveyed this message during his welcome speech at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2023 inauguration.
Notably, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit, in its 23rd consecutive year since its inception in 2000, featured President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Chief Guest and Montek Singh Ahluwalia as the keynote speaker for this year’s event.
Hulangamuwa further said: “We could term 2023 as a year of stabilisation with decline in inflation, interest rates, appreciation of the rupee and progress in the fiscal and monetary reforms. However, stabilisation has often been the easy part for Sri Lanka. We have repeatedly failed to see the other complementary reforms that would sustain the stabilisation of the economy. Hence 2024 is a pivotal year. We just saw the presentation of the National Budget which aims to balance the fiscal targets and the need for developments and welfare for the public. This targets to be carefully implemented alongside the reform measures.
He added that a lack of consensus amongst political parties, civil society, unions, private sector, and the public on the reform measures, is the reason for the failure in implementing the reforms needed. For example, measures proposed in the past such as SOE reform have been met with stiff opposition, and Sri Lanka has not implemented the required changes, and we are at this point as a consequence of that.
“As a Chamber we aim to drive forward a consensus in our policy advocacy work, speaking to various political groups, unions, civil society and think-tanks. You will see this in the summit as with the last session focusing on achieving this national consensus. Here, we will address the key topics such as corruption and governance as well,” he said.
Welcoming the participants, he also said that the Ceylon Chamber has brought together a formidable lineup of over 25 renowned international and national experts, complemented by high-level representatives from government bodies, multinational agencies, finance, consulting, and leading think-tanks to name a few. We have tried as much as possible to bring in foreign speakers that have experience in implementing difficult reforms so that people can understand how Sri Lanka’s reform programme should be implemented.
Hulangamuwa noted that Sri Lanka is at a crucial point in its economic development trajectory. There are difficult decisions to be made, and the steps taken now by the Government and private sector will determine how Sri Lanka emerges from the current challenges. Sri Lanka needs to complement the tax reform with other structural reforms related to trade, investment, and ease of doing business.
On behalf of the CCC, Hulagamuwa said: “Mr. President – we appreciate the efforts in the last 16 months or so to stabilise the economy. As we engage in healthy debate, advocate for necessary change, and call for accountability, we do so bolstered by the knowledge that while we may travel different paths, the destination remains the same – that of economic growth and prosperity to the people.”
Given the status of the economy, the summit is aptly themed in two parts – Sustain Reform – Accelerate Growth. The summit aims to discuss the crucial elements of the reform process such as SOE reform while also discussing solutions to get growth back on track. As the private sector, we cannot be happy with an economy growing under 3%, we need it to expand by 4-5% at least annually to create new jobs and innovate. The summit will hear case studies from countries like Vietnam where the reforms of the Government ran in parallel to the entrepreneurship and growth ambitions of companies, in particular, to export, he explained.
