Changing Energy Landscape
The Foreign Affairs journal published by the US Council on Foreign Relations is a ‘highly’ respected newsletter in spite of its partiality towards broader US security interests and its animosity towards rival countries such as China, Iran, Russia and the like. In its December 2012 volume a detailed description of how the current energy map of the ‘world is being redrawn’ has been vividly analysed.

The Pathfinder Foundation’s (PF) previous Energy Alert concluded that the key challenge for Sri Lanka’s energy security was to reduce its dependence on imported oil while containing energy costs in the economy. These twin objectives can best be achieved by maximizing the benefits from the natural gas discoveries in the Mannar basin.

As a first step, two articles will be published on: (1) the broad landscape connected with Sri Lanka’s energy security; and (2) issues to be addressed to attain the twin objectives of energy security and reduced cost of power, following the discovery of commercial quantities of natural gas in the Mannar basin. This article sets out the background landscape.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka stipulates that education is a fundamental right. The population has achieved a literacy rate of 98.1%. From the time of the Kannangara Reforms in the 1940s, education at all levels has been primarily funded and administered by the government. The public school network has an enrolment of about four million students in over 10,000 schools across the nation. At tertiary level, there are 15 state universities.

In the early years after independence, it was generally accepted that the government’s role was limited to providing defence, national security, revenue collection and a few other basic services. In sectors such as education and health, employment was provided both by the government and the private sector. From the late 1950s a combination of a severe decline in the terms of trade and the inappropriate economic policies of successive governments resulted in low investment and slow growth making it difficult for the economy to absorb the increasing numbers of youth leaving school or graduating from universities. The increasingly statist response to these pressures led to the government becoming more directly involved in employment creation. The 1971 Insurrection also generated political pressures which gave added momentum to the government’s role in this regard.

The long-term prospect of our agricultural sector is severely constrained by extreme inefficiencies in both markets and public policies. This casts a very heavy burden on all Sri Lankans, particularly the poor and vulnerable. Many of the latter include members of our rural population who are trapped in an unsatisfactory status quo of low-productivity, low-income agricultural activity. This latest Pathfinder Foundation Election Myth Buster seeks to demonstrate how this unwarranted reliance on subsidies and administered prices imposes a heavy burden on the entire population and serves as a drag on the development prospects of our economy and nation.

සහනාධාර සහ දීමනා මගින් ජනතාවට කිසිදු බරක් නොපැටවේ

With growth resilient and progress made in the pursuit of high-quality development, economic confidence remains positive in China.In the second quarter, business confidence among Chinese entrepreneurs continued to improve, according to a central bank survey. The entrepreneur confidence index climbed for the ninth straight quarter, rising to 75.8 from 74.2 in the first quarter.The business climate index for Q2 held steady at 58.5 percent, 3.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year, the central bank said.Optimism has spread among officials and economists."China has the conditions and capability to fulfill the annual target set at the beginning of the year and ensure the stable and long-term growth of the economy," said a National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official.

Authored by Dr. Sirimal Abeyratne, Prof of Economics, University of Colombo for The pathfinder Foundation

When we look at the developments in the economic policy arena after the Presidential elections, we hardly see any way forward for Sri Lanka. Apart for revisiting governance issues, what we find is policy actions that were “defensive” and “corrective” in form but is “destructive” in substance.

By Sarah Hettiaratchi, Project Executive Pathfinder Foundation

Since the change of government early this year, the country’s new leadership has announced a few mega development projects, which when implemented, can catalyse economic transformation. The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) in this article wishes to highlight the links between the high priority mega development projects and the objective of establishing Colombo as an important world class financial centre

The new government, elected to govern the country for the next five years, has vowed to implement its flagship Megapolis project which was included in its election manifesto. It was reported that the conceptual plan was initially mooted in 1991 by the then young Sri Lankan Minister of Industries, Science and Technology, Ranil Wickremesinghe, when he made a presentation in the presence of the visiting Japanese Prime Minister, Hon. Toshiki Kaifu. The objective of the presentation was to seek Japanese government assistance to implement this mega project. In spite of this initiative, further development of the concept came to a halt with the change of the government in 1994. Once again, during the 2001-2002 period the same urban development concept was considered for implementation, at least on a phased basis, giving priority to reclamation of the sea near Galle Face and areas adjacent to Colombo 03 to develop an extended city within Colombo. The new government is now ready to embark upon its flagship project as the Western Region Megapolis Project (WRMP) which will help transform the entire Western Province, enveloping the Colombo, Gampaha, and Kalutara districts and positioning Colombo as the best city in the South Asian region.