View from Colombo: Private sector urged to create more jobs

The role of the private sector in the development of the country's future has been the focal point of discussions during the past few weeks and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe himself urged business leaders to make use of the generous incentives offered to expand, grow and create jobs.

"It was now, or perhaps never," asserted the prime minister during his frank and healthy two-hour dialogue with the leaders of the private sector, asking them to 'get down to business' and throwing them a challenge to create more jobs as the government alone cannot deal with the ever-growing problem of unemployment.

Reminding them of the need for reciprocity, he pointed out that they enjoy the fruits of the peace process and the silencing of guns besides concessions such as financial and labour sector reforms, liberal tax concessions and amnesties.

This first ever meeting also provided an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to point out that though the country's situation has vastly improved and macro economic conditions strengthened, the government cannot expect overnight results. Listening to their grievances, the prime minister said that he didn't think that there would be elections in the near future.

Highlighting a host of incentives offered by the government and urging the need to maximise their use, Finance Minister K.N. Choksy earlier described the private sector as the 'engine of economic growth', especially in an open economy which has undertaken an ambitious privatisation programme fast dismantling its state control over many sectors and activities.

Then came the call by the Treasury Secretary, Charitha Ratwatta, using parlance from the game of rugby, asking the private sector to take the ball and run without complaining about the referee as there is always pain, confusion and complaints with reforms and changes.

He said the government elected on the reforms ticket is committed to a liberalisation programme with a strong pro-trade package that includes a shift towards a low standardised tariff structure which is a challenging task.

Urging the private sector to wake up columnists and others, too, Ratwatta pointed out that the private sector involvement in national affairs has become necessary as the political leaders have failed to build confidence, sending wrong signals and resting their hopes of political power on harmful policies.

"Today, Sri Lanka needs effective leadership more than ever before and this vacuum could be filled by the private sector to pull the nation together to cope with the challenges of the future," said a columnist.

But the problem with the island's private sector is that it has its own private side. It lacks the maturity of a developed market as giving something back to society, and helping a worthy cause is alien to many companies. The urgent need is to share the dividends with the people as a whole and help bring down the spiralling cost of living.

Meanwhile, the open economy and fast changing political environment have brought in a host of problems which the private sector hadn't faced in the past.

For example, the existing uncertainties place new realities before the private sector operators and leaders, most of whom have to allocate resources to make campaign contributions not only to the parties but also to individual contestants to support their school, class and club mates, friends and relatives.

They also buy insurance cover type concessions by making contributions to those they do not like much but may need in case the tables are turned, besides finding non-existent jobs for those recommended by bigwigs, especially close to the elections when the going gets tougher.

The author is a Sri Lanka-based journalist