1. tourism. not only beaches. the country has so much to offer within a few hours of travel.

2. strategic location. we should develop the ports and a strong merchent marine fleet, to become a seafaring nation, as we are surrounded by seas.

3. exploiting fishing and marine resources.

4. tea industry.

5. as a gateway to india. i will be easier for people to do business through us with india , than to waste their time and energy going throgh that vast and diverse country.

In the first place why are you worrying about large amounts of foreign exchange that went to import machinery? SL citizens should not be worrying about this UNLESS it is government owned companies that is importing machinery using taxpayers money. Assembly of products should be done by private companies like Toyota, Honda etc at their own risk.

I do not know why industralization in SL failed in the seventies, but I would guess that the manner it which they implemented it had something to do with it.

GOSL must have a clear policy that anyone who wants to deal in cars, must have them assembled locally. No exceptions. You must NEVER have a situation where one or two companies, like in the case of SL Micro cars today, are allowed to assemble cars and at the same time other dealers are allowed to import new or used cars and sell them at prevailing prices. When Micro cars is the only assembler, sub-suppliers will not find it profitable to set up plants in SL, and hence Micro has to import virtually all its components, making it an uphill battle for Micro to stay competitive. For this industry to grow, GOSL has to protect this industry by discouraging imports via duties.

When you have so many companies like Toyota, Honda, Ford, Mazda, VW, Kia etc assembling cars locally, market competition will ensure that the cars are sold at affordable prices. The same principle applies to all consumer products like fridges etc.

A car has thousands of parts and if SL encourages local assembly of cars and motor cycles their sub-suppliers will set up plants in SL thus creating numerous jobs. To protect this industry you discourage the import of fully built up cars via import duties.

The country tried all this rubbish in the seventies. Large amounts of foreign exchange went on importing machinery which then assembled goods from parts that cost more than the whole thing assembled.

You seem to have fallen for the broken window fallacy. If a fridge can be imported for 40,000 then paying 45,000 rupees to import the parts and another 15,000 rupees to a Lankan factory to assemble them has not created wealth, it has pissed away 20,000 rupees.

There might just be a Lankan market for a three-wheeler or a motorbike but the free-trade agreement with India ditches that idea.

I honestly don’t know what’s going on between SF and GR. But one thing that I have observed over the years is that whoever writes ST political column is biased towards UNP. SF’s problem is his big mouth. GR is aware of this and also knows how to handle it. It was GR that intervened when SF bashed TN MPs as political jokers for instance. Its hard to believe that SF would go against GR. Nah, he cannot be that stupid. However, if he were to do that he would go from been hero to zero in one instance.

It will cost more if you import ALL parts, but not if some of the parts are manufactured locally using local labour. That is why many S.E. Asian nations including Vietnam have started local assembly of not only cars, but almost all consumer goods like fans, fridges, TVs, PCs etc.

http://www.aseanaffairs.com/vietnam_daily_news_updates/automotive/nissan_to_start_making_cars_in_vietnam_next_year

http://paultan.org/2006/04/13/possible-tata-indica-local-assembly/

A car has thousands of parts and if SL encourages local assembly of cars and motor cycles their sub-suppliers will set up plants in SL thus creating numerous jobs. To protect this industry you discourage the import of fully built up cars via import duties. Diversification of the ecomomy away from agriculture and textiles is one of the secrets of sucess of many S.E Asian nations in uplifting their people.

“Just a day before he was told to relinquish office, Gen. Fonseka was at a felicitation ceremony at his alma mater, Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda. It was held on July 10. There, Gen. Fonseka declared that whilst President Rajapaksa had given the political leadership to the war against the LTTE, it was he who gave it the military leadership. Gen. Fonseka had repeated the same remarks at several public fora causing ripples in other quarters. Some complained this was “I, me and myself” syndrome over a task that was a team effort.”

“The highest levels of Government believe that the Opposition is in touch with a somewhat embittered Gen. Fonseka, who feels he has been shabbily treated by the Government after he had delivered the goods for it. Many say that his utterances and behaviour were the cause for his own downfall. Equally, the Government is uneasy. One top runger in the Rajapaksa administration put the Government’s predicament aptly saying “miniha nathuwath baa; athuwatha baa” (one can’t be with him – or without him). At these highest levels of Government it is believed that the Opposition is not so much interested in making Gen. Fonseka the Common Opposition Presidential candidate but to make him a source of nuisance and embarrassment to the Rajapaksa Presidency in the run up for a second-term Presidential election.”

why is SL still importing cars? Why not tell all car manufacturers that if they want to sell cars in SL, they need to locally assemble them, gradually increasing the local content annually, and impose hefty import duties on imported cars.

Back to the 1970s, import substitution.

It will actually cost more in foreign exchange to buy the cars in parts and assemble them here. All you’re suggesting is a neat money earner for government cronies. And with the tax on cars above 100% who can afford to buy one anyway?

Both Gota & Sarath are on the same wavelength on IDP issue……DBSJ

The attitude of Army Commander, Jagath Jayasuriya, seems considerably more sensible. It does seem that the military is run by a couple of Illuminati, who having won the war are now going to do their damn best to lose the peace.

Peoples attitudes and mindsets need to change radically into more progressive ones.

SL leaders failed to emphasise job creation – why is SL still importing cars? Why not tell all car manufacturers that if they want to sell cars in SL, they need to locally assemble them, gradually increasing the local content annually, and impose hefty import duties on imported cars.

Because they failed to create jobs, Marxism & nationalization of private enterprise got popular in SL and further ruined the economy. Fighting over a small economic cake, rather than focusing on increasing the size of the cake, indirectly led to the JVP and LTTE uprisings. If people had decent jobs to go to, chances of anti Tamil riots happening is considerably reduced.

When there is a perception of a large earnings differential between a minority coummunity and the majority community, social tensions easily occur and which can be exploited by unscrupulous politicians.

This can happen anywhere and not just in SL, as the links below suggest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_riots_of_May_1998

http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3781476

People need to understand that GOSL has limited funds and cannot support a bloated civil service, nor build and run enough universities and technical colleges for all eligible students. Yet we still find many are still objecting to the set up of private universities.

How about reducing the number of public holidays?What SL needs is a visionary, benevolant dictator.