External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris, on Thursday, assured the support of the government of Sri Lanka for all initiatives of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and noted that the time was opportune for South leaders of the SAARC to unite to sort out the drawbacks of the region in its way forward.
He also requested the governments of the region to reflect on what is best for the region so that it could move forward, fulfilling aspirations.
He was addressing the one day seminar themed: “Regional Connectivity in South Asia: Prospects for Cooperation in Transport and Communication” organized jointly by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka at the Galle Face Hotel on Thursday.
Earlier, the events were preceded by the Minister and SAARC Chamber dignitaries lighting the traditional oil lamp which not only declared the ceremony open, but also symbolized the illumination of the predominant futuristic role that connectivity played in a region, home to a fifth of mankind.
Continuing, Prof Peiris, also said that it was also prudent for SAARC to create a buffer stock of food aimed an ensuring that there were no shortage of essential foods with fluctuating global prices and added that the SAARC region was a granary which was capable of growing or manufacturing all the food that it needed.
“SAARC is a reservoir of resources and all these resources are intertwined,” he said. Then the vulnerability of South Asian nations would be protected and buffer stocks of food, rice, wheat and sugar would insulate the economies of these countries, he said.
He said that the priorities of the region were: Food security, energy security and the need for combating terrorism.
Commenting on the merging of synergies, he said that Nepal, with its hydropower resources and water ways , would be able to produce excess hydro power and supply to the rest of the region while Sri Lanka would supply fruits and vegetables to Maldives which was a tourism driven economy while imparting its professional knowledge in areas such as nursing.
He said that the seminar was not meant to one of symbolic significance, resorting to platitudes and generalities, but to focus on concrete issues to determine how to proceed further.
He also said that the significance of the region’s growth and in some countries topping 8 percent in 2010 was paramount in the light of developed countries reporting a 2.5% growth while the global growth was 4.5%. “ many countries in the region have reported growth rates of over 8%, he said.
He said that the high level visits of the regional leaders paved the way for regional linkages and the highlight of these visits opened linkages and communication among the trade chambers as well.
“Whenever I meet the officials of the state, I always make it a point for the need for the closer collaboration between the chambers of commerce of these countries. That, to me, was the striking feature of these visits, he said.
“The government of Sri Lanka has explicitly recognized the value of these visits,” he said.
He also quoted the “Economist” magazine which said that Sri Lankan born businessmen now living and working overseas had remitted US$ 4 billion back home when they had the option of investing those funds in lush world capitals.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zadari had also expressed warm feelings about the developments in post war Sri Lanka and articulated in no uncertain terms of his resolve about Pakistan’s resolve of developing commercial relationships with Sri Lanka and he has made available US$ 200 million for the Pakistan private sector for investing in Sri Lanka, Prof Peiris said.
He said that the tourism of the region could also be fostered with 25% of the 2.5 billion tourists that Sri Lanka was targeting by 2015 were coming from India and that Sri Lanka could jointly organize sandwich tours for European tourists in collaboration with Nepal for tours of the Himalayas.
Source: Daily News (30/07/2011)
