The question has been asked many times whether government should directly encourage any particular sector of the economy. Due to the unique nature of Sri Lanka’s economy I believe that GOSL should get directly involved in the economy in the short run. The key primary sectors are given below:
- Agriculture – we should focus most of our attention on this much neglected sector as this is still the biggest employer of rural Sri Lanka. This will ensure that urbanization will be controlled. Many people go overseas or seek employment in the city due to rural poverty mainly due to severe neglect of the agriculture sector of our economy.
- Health sector – Sri Lanka provides free health services for all citizens. However the quality of this service is very poor in most hospitals. The level of corruption in hospital administration is alarming. The health sector as a whole needs to be fully restructured;
- Education sector – Sri Lanka provides free education right upto university level. However many of Sri Lanka’s disadvantages stems from educational services provided not changing in line with market realities;
- Small Business Development – Sri Lanka does not have any real plan for developing small businesses. In some developed economies small businesses account for almost 50% of all businesses. If 10,000 new small businesses started in 2010 this will create many more job opportunities. Also a structured program needs to be developed to encourage entrepreneurship;
- Infrastructure development – Road, rail and energy sectors need to be jump started as the costs of managing these infrastructure is so great it is slowly bleeding the entire economy into bankruptcy.
I hope that you will help to investigate the above factors that affect the Sri Lankan economy and also the possible means of addressing the issues the relevant and feasible solutions.
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