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by Shirajiv Sirimane

The Sri Lankan Rupee is now stabilised and this is a sign that the economy is strong said the visiting lecturer of the International College of Business Technology (ICBT) in Mount Lavinia, Jyoti Guptha.

Jyoti Guptha, the visiting lecturer from France.Pic. by Vipula Amarasinghe

The Indian born lecturer who has been visiting Sri Lanka on a regular basis since 1997 said that this is evident for the past one year. "Each time I visit Sri Lanka I find that the Sri Lanka Rupee has devalued by around 10 to 15%. But from last year the Rupee has been stable."

He said that the main reason for this is the Peace process and the strong government which is ruling the country. "A few years ago the country was handicapped by war and this drove the investors away. Today investor confidence is growing and this is a very positive sign. This factor can also be seen at the stock market."

He said that even the Government is very confident and this was why they have decided to reduce interest rates on lending.

"Today the Government's integration too is in line with international markets."

Guptha who has been based in France for the past 40 years said that he has read most of the Annual Reports published by Sri Lankan companies. "They are of very high quality and are definitely up to world standards." He said this shows that governance in the private sector companies is high and it will help for more portfolio investments.

Asked what areas Sri Lanka has to improve the economy Guptha said that it was the infrastructure and Education. "Sri Lanka needs a good network of transport and more emphasis should be given to rail and ferry transport." He added that a safe night train system too should be introduced.

He said that Sri Lanka is a small country with 16 million people and cannot live without the assistance of the outside world unlike China or India where the resources within the country are sufficient to run their country. "Therefore education is a must to interact with the world and the e Lanka program will help towards this in a big way," he said.

The visiting lecturer said that the Sri Lankan public is now aware of this factor and the public interest for business related education has increased by over 90% in the last four years. "Even the companies have realised this and are sending senior officials to attend the ICBT's Master of Business Administration (MNA) Course."

The lecturer said that this course is internationally recognised and if a student was to attend this course overseas he would have to spend six times more and would have to lose his present job and the ties with the family.

He said that this course is tailor-made for senior marketing staff and there are participants from Korea, China, Rumania, Australia India and the Maldives already attending this one-year course. Guptha said that this is the only MBA course in Sri Lanka with 100% foreign lecturers.

Guptha who was posted by the French Government as the first Dean of the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand from 1993 to 1997 said that during his stay in Thailand he met several Sri Lankan students who requested him to conduct an MBA in Sri Lanka. "This is how I came to Sri Lanka."

Chief Manager, ICBT, Mohan Pathirana said that the Government should help the private sector education institutes in a more aggressive manner. "But the Government has spent money on unnecessary things."

He said that the previous government spent Rs. 2 million US dollars to open a Sri Lanka Institute of Developing Administrators (SLIDA). "This is a distance education system where students have to talk to a US professor on a Video conferencing system. But this is not a practical idea since when the course commences in Sri Lanka around 10 a.m. it is 11 p.m. in the United States. When the course resumes after the lunch break it is about one a.m. in US and the lecturer is dead tired."

He said that if the Government had given this money to state institutions and asked them to train their senior staff in courses offered by the private education institutions it would have been definitely more productive.

Pathirana said that similarly another Asian Development Bank funded program titled Post Secondary Modernisation Program at a cost of US 60 million is yet to get off the ground.

"US $ one million was paid to a Canadian lecturer to do an indepth study on this program and I think this too was a waste as no proper report had been submitted."

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