The message from the CSE
The spectacular and unprecedented
peaking of trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Tuesday, speaks
more eloquently than words about Sri Lanka’s current business vibrancy.
Turnover at the bourse reached the dizzying figure of Rs. 1.6 billion,
which was reportedly more than three times last year’s average trading
volume of Rs. 400 million. Thus has Sri Lanka’s reputation as an
investor hub been further enhanced and given a special glow.
As our lead story rightly said yesterday, the robust trading at the
CSE is a sound pointer to growing investor confidence in the country.
This should not come as a surprise because after quite some time the
LTTE has been set fully to flight. It has been completely routed in the
East and the State has re-established its authority over the entirety of
the province almost.
Coupled with these positive military developments for the State is
the broad-basing of the Government through the inclusion in it of a
section of the UNP and the SLMC. The cumulative result of these
political developments is the establishment of a stable governmental
majority, ensuring, of course, continued stability of the
administration.
Needless to say, the average investor - both local and foreign -
enjoys the certainty that State stability could not be eroded easily.
Hence his willingness to invest heavily in stocks and shares with hardly
any reservations as regards political stability. This amounts to a
strong Vote of Confidence in Sri Lanka on the part of the investor
community.
In these developments could be seen the vast benefits which could be
reaped by the State and the people in the event of complete normality
and peace returning to Sri Lanka.
To begin with, the polity should work as one man towards the complete
elimination of terror. They could do this by helping to keep the peace
and by morally backing the Armed Forces and Police. Besides, the
President and the State should be wholeheartedly backed.
These processes could be consolidated by the communities of the land
reaching out to each other in a spirit of peace and brotherhood.
Material benefits would seep down to all sections of the people if there
is a countrywide united effort to defeat terrorism and give development
a chance.
Our very bouncy and buoyant business climate should encourage the
State into fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in more and more
sections of society. We request that special attention be paid to the
Small and Medium Scale Enterprise sector.
The glittery business successes achieved by wholly locally owned
companies and business enterprises should remind the State that nothing
is really beyond the local people. They only need to be given some basic
incentives and encouragement to venture into business and they would
certainly prove themselves entrepreneurs of the first order.
Therefore, we hope that the recent spectacular gains by the bourse
would remind the State of the need to create an increasingly enabling
business environment in Sri Lanka. By encouraging an entrepreneurial
spirit in the country, the State could be paving the way for gradual
poverty alleviation and greater economic self-reliance among the people. |
Beaming Sri Lanka’s message to the world
In this political solution we are making the LTTE
a stakeholder as much as we have made every other polity of Sri
Lanka a stakeholder. For the first time we have brought in a
consensus in the South addressing the national question.
 Full Story
Interview with Rajmohan Gandhi by Dionne Bunsha
The human Gandhi - the real Gandhi, the Gandhi
that we can touch, that we can put our arms around. Gandhi’s face is
known to us. His statue is known to us. But we don’t know the
heartbeat of Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi. I am hoping that through
this book, the pulsating human Gandhi will come across.
Full Story
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