Basil R should change course if we are to come out of this foreign reserve crunch
Posted on August 25th, 2023
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Since 2015 Export Development Board has been trying to implement National Export Strategy ( NES) with few salient features which can enhance our foreign currency reserves
A few of them are Development of Boat Building for Export coupled with Nautical Tourism in addition to Development of Spice Trade,Digital Technology Transformation, development of Wellness Tourism.
Nautical tourism coupled with wellness tourism can be a winner for the country during this COVID pandemic where foreign tourists can be enticed or travel to Sri Lanka to spend their time to spend their holiday And also to recuperate after a Corona infection
Many medium-sized cruisers are laid up in many parts of the world and Sri Lanka can hire them at a reasonable fee and deploy them from Port City Hambantota, Galle, and Trincomalee
Various hotels nearby those harbors can provide staff and food to these cruisers with few private hospitals providing v medical facilities
Proposals were submitted to the task force but no attention was paid by the tourism authority
Sailing from one port to another by sea could avoid tourists contacting locals to prevent the spread of COVID.
LankaWeb – Basil R should change course if we are to come out of this foreign reserve crunch