{"id":49956,"date":"2015-12-04T17:14:41","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T00:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=49956"},"modified":"2015-12-04T17:14:41","modified_gmt":"2015-12-05T00:14:41","slug":"dr-harsha-de-silva-on-new-foreign-policy-initiatives-or-economic-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/12\/04\/dr-harsha-de-silva-on-new-foreign-policy-initiatives-or-economic-diplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr.Harsha de Silva on new foreign policy initiatives or \u2018 Economic Diplomacy \u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Courtesy The Daily Mirror<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign policy was misaligned with the economic policy in the recent past. the country lost the qualification to be a beneficiary of the \u2018GSP Plus\u2019 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0facility due to short sighted foreign policy. Export income which stood around 35% of GDP in 2004 declined to 14% last year.The \u00a0Prime Minister\u2019s vision is to promote Sri Lanka as a trading country and it\u2019s relations with the outside world as one of \u00a0economic diplomacy.\u2018Sri Lanka will pursue new policy initiatives and rebuild its relations\u2019 he said The Prime Minister has also commented that in our international relations China is as important to us as any other country.<\/p>\n

\"\"Addressing \u00a0the members of the United Professionals Group on Thursday, 26th November at Sri Kotha, Dr. Harsha de Silva said, The narrow and petty minded foreign policy \u00a0pursued during the last decade saw an \u00a0unhealthy downward trend \u00a0that \u00a0led to a decline of \u00a0the country\u2019s economy. \u00a0An oft repeated slogan was that the UNP was conspiring with the US and the West to get rid of the then president who won the war for the country and western interests \u00a0were trying to engulf the country. \u00a0Sri Lanka was perceived as the black sheep of the global community as a result of this short-sighted foreign policy. The current dynamic market based trading economy , first introduced by late President \u00a0J.R. Jayawardena and continued to be \u00a0followed , \u00a0is dismally misaligned with the foreign policy that was pursued \u00a0in the recent past. \u00a0The foreign policy did not support economic policy and as a result, it led to an unsustainable \u00a0equilibrium in economic \u00a0and foreign policy \u201d.<\/p>\n

He went on to say that, due to this \u00a0high-handed attitude and failure \u00a0to address the issues properly, \u00a0the country lost the qualification to be a beneficiary of the GSP Plus facility granted by the US and the EU. Local industries, particularly the garment industry which provided employment to thousands, \u00a0virtually collapsed. This affected mainly the small and medium level garment factories but large companies that had contracts for branded products were able to survive. The employment opportunities \u00a0and livelihood available to \u00a0the people \u00a0therefore suffered.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka was blind to what was happening in the world and because of the paranoia \u00a0that Sri Lanka should not engage with certain countries, our relations with many economically influential countries have soured deeply and as a result, \u00a0the bilateral trade agreements , especially with India did not see the light of day. We \u00a0were \u00a0precluded \u00a0from negotiating \u00a0and including terms \u00a0more favourable. \u00a0Export income which stood at around 35% \u00a0of GDP in 2004 declined to 14% last year. \u00a0Instead of exporting goods and services of Sri Lanka, it was compelled to export \u2018 human beings \u2019or practise \u2018 neo-slavery \u2019 to earn dearly required foreign exchange. The poor workers \u00a0so \u00a0employed \u00a0were called by catchy phrases like \u2018 RATA VIRUWO \u2018 but there were hardly any gains for them .\u201d Dr. Harsha added that the new government, \u00a0with the \u00a0vision and wisdom of our leaders, \u00a0President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe, \u00a0 had \u00a0to think differently \u00a0 and \u00a0take a fresh look at everything. We had to formulate and pursue a foreign policy envisaging \u00a0friendship with all countries, \u00a0that would ultimately benefit Sri Lanka in the long run. That is to say we needed \u00a0to \u00a0provide services to \u00a0our customer, meaning the world, \u00a0and then reap the economic benefits. \u00a0Kudos to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who painstakingly \u00a0rebuilt \u00a0our relations with many countries that were offended by the previous regime. The government\u2019s \u00a0new thinking is that, we would not send people out but we will export our goods and services \u201d. Sri Lanka will invite investments that will help to produce exportable goods of high quality. We will try and enter the US market, the largest in the world on a higher scale.<\/p>\n

He also said that the \u00a0Prime Minister\u2019s vision was that Sri Lanka should be a trading country and it\u2019s relations with the outside world was one of \u00a0\u2018economic diplomacy\u2019, which was a new paradigm. \u00a0Sri Lanka cannot depend on the global trade envisaged by the World Trade Organization or outcomes of the \u00a0\u2018Doha round \u2019 which was not successful \u00a0but \u00a0engage with the appropriate regional economic groups \u00a0such as Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP \u00a0accounts for nearly 40 % of world trade ) and other mutually beneficial \u00a0bilateral agreements. \u00a0Vietnam, a country which had its exports around US $ 2 billion in 1990 almost on par with Sri Lanka, had grown to US $ 120 billion in 2014 compared to Sri Lanka\u2019s US $ 11 billion. Vietnam will soon join the TPP . \u00a0Due to the new trends in \u00a0foreign relations coupled with \u00a0internal developments in the fields of democracy, good governance and human rights, Sri Lanka \u00a0had earned so many accolades, the country was invited to participate at the Open Government Partnership Conference \u00a0in Mexico where 66 countries participated. He had the privilege to participate along with Wijedasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice \u00a0at this conference. \u00a0Ms. Samantha Powers, US cabinet member of President Obama\u2019s government and US representative at the UN, \u00a0in her address spoke eloquently \u00a0about Sri Lanka\u2019s new developments in such glowing terms that our country earned tributes from many representatives present. \u00a0So, \u00a0considering all these aspects, the new policy initiative is economic diplomacy in foreign relations. Sri Lanka\u2019s relations with other countries will be focused on it along with \u00a0other considerations like cultural ties \u00a0being \u00a0given due cognizance. \u00a0US will soon engage with Sri Lanka in further economic participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In answering \u00a0a question from the audience, \u00a0Dr. Harsha explained that Sri Lanka maintained her good relations with China as before and would like to see more investments rather than loans from that country. The Prime Minister has himself commented that China was as important to us as any other country.\u201d
\nResponding to another question, Dr. Harsha explained that the GSP Plus facility was not renewed due to our failure to enact \u00a0certain legislative requirements that were agreed upon. \u00a0However, these aspects are being pursued \u00a0with \u00a0vigour. An enormous amount of documentation is needed to be completed.<\/p>\n

Germany \u00a0is keenly supporting our request to restore the GSP Plus facility which is expected \u00a0to be finalized next year. \u00a0USAID is also reconsidering the \u00a0extension of its facilities here.\u201d \u00a0 In conclusion, he reminded the participants of the famous quote from \u00a0President Clinton\u2019s campaign: \u2018It\u2019s the economy that\u2019s stupid \u00a0!\u2019 drawing laughter from the audience.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Mr. Kanishka \u00a0Jayasinghe, President UPG \u00a0 whilst welcoming \u00a0Dr. Harsha de Silva stated:\u201d This meeting was somewhat like the OPA\u2019s \u00a0\u2018 meet the people \u2018 discussions \u00a0at which President Maithripala Sirisena himself \u00a0had participated then as a minister. \u00a0Today\u2019s participants \u00a0include \u00a0members of \u00a0the National Association of Professionals in Engineering, Technology and Science (NAPETS ) and \u00a0the \u00a0Young Professionals Organization ( \u00a0YPO) \u201d. \u00a0 He said that since Dr. Harsha was a friend of all three organisations and because he himself declined a \u00a0formal introduction, he was \u00a0inviting Dr. De Silva to \u00a0address the gathering. \u00a0Dr. Mohan Abeyratne proposed the vote of thanks.
\nM.T.P.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

– See more at: http:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/98235\/dr-harsha-de-silva-on-new-foreign-policy-initiatives-or-economic-diplomacy?#sthash.MK0YkoRw.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign policy was misaligned with the economic policy in the recent past. the country lost the qualification to be a beneficiary of the \u2018GSP Plus\u2019 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0facility due to short sighted foreign policy. Export income which stood around 35% of GDP in 2004 declined to 14% last year.The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}