If the massive infrastructure development programmes underway around Colombo and other parts of the country are any indication, Sri lanka could turn out to be the new El Dorado for even Indians who are in search of greener pastures. Indians need not take the pain to get a visa to any of the West Asian or European countries. They can get much better paid jobs here in Sri lanka which is hardly one-hour away from Chennai.
Sri lanka, which has been ravaged by a bloody civil war unleashed by the dreaded Tamil Tigers of the lTTE, is making speedy progress to become an advanced economy by 2035, according to the country’s top policy makers and Ministers. The immediate objective of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is to increase the per capita income of the nation to $7,500 by 2020 from the present $4,000.
The power point presentations made by PB Jayasundera, secretary to the treasury, Government of Sri lanka, lalith Weerathunga, veteran bureaucrat and secretary to President Rajapaksa, Ajith Cabraal, Governor, Central Bank of Sri lanka, literally bowled over the delegates attending the Defence Seminar 2014 at Colombo. The above mentioned officials are respected globally for their knowledge, integrity and wisdom. These persons have been handpicked by President Rajapaksa himself and has been given the responsibility of making Sri lanka an advanced economy by 2035.
The Sri lankan Defence forces could wipe out the lTTE only by 2009. At the end of the Eelam War, the economy was totally shattered and the country was in ruins. Governor Cabral and his colleagues had to go for roadshows pleading with investors to purchase treasury bonds issued by the Central Bank. “The lTTE terrorists had bombed the Central Bank on January 31,1996 killing 91 people. More than 100 people lost their eye sight in the attack. But we rose from the ruins like the legendary Phoenix bird,” said Cabraal.
The Central Bank Governor (he is equivalent to our Reserve Bank Governor in official hierarchy) said Sri lanka's recovery from the ruins of 2009 was mind boggling. “We had made South Korea our role model because of the speed with which that country recovered from the devastating Korean war of the 1950s. But we made greater achievements than S Korea,” he said.
Cabraal and other speakers said Sri lanka is fast emerging as the hub of five major areas in which it has inherent strength. “Sri lanka is emerging as the major global hub of energy, commerce, aviation, tourism, knowledge and maritime business. Today Sri lanka is powering london Stock Exchange. We have become a role model for the world in how a country could emerge as an economic power in a short time,” he said.