I note that the above gentleman has been just
appointed to the vacant position of the BOI chief after a one year hiatus when the
Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, Ferdinando, was temporarily holding
this position until a suitable appointment was made.
There were rumors about him and PBJ the Treasury
Secretary not getting along, mainly due to the lack of inward investment in 2012,
but that is now history.
Let us give the new BOI chief the benefit of
the doubt, as I have no clue of his background, except to say that like me, if he
has been overseas for 35 years, he would have gained enough experience in knowing
what it is that foreign investors want from inward investment to Sri Lanka. The
Climate for investment in short!
I am not privy to the terms of his appointment
and to the promises made by the Govt. to give into the demands of overseas investors,
but I trust he will be able to perform his job sans political interference and without
the senior members of the cabal asking for percentages of foreign companies when
they invest in Sri Lanka.
I am only too aware of a substantial amount
of potential foreign investors who refrained from investing in Sri Lanka when confronted
with upfront unconscionable demands of bribes in the form of up to 40% of the total
investment cost for them to get permission to invest. Remember that investors take
a huge risk in investing in countries such as Sri Lanka when compared to the investment
risk of the country. Add to that the cost of payment upfront can make the difference
on whether to invest or not, and that is the main reason for the lower investment
in 2012. I know the new BOI chief will read this blog entry and will therefore be
only too aware of the main obstacle to his fulfilling the expectations placed upon
him.
I also hope that he has the courage to get on
the blower direct to tell the President the moment such a complaint is made to him
from a potential investor to nip such grandiose demands in the bud and tell the
asker, even if he is a “son of the same gun” to back off in the interests of the
nation.
He must command the respect of the boss, not
necessarily his staff, as many mean well but have no clue as to what how they should
operate, or what concessions they should give, and the speed with which red tape
must be cut, and all regulations cleared, without each bureaucrat asking for his
piece of the pie to sign off and not delay authorizations. You will make enemies, but that is your job and the cost of doing it well!!
The courage to think of country, the objectives of the national interest despite all the leeches surrounding you will be tough, but will be most rewarding if you are able to get past the initial backstabbing, especially by those claiming to be your new found friends.
Remember that you have the ability to influence legislation and rules that will be in the interests of attracting increased inward investment, and therefore you can provide a huge service to your motherland. The jobs of the future, the livelihoods of our youth, hope for those who have none, and the eradication of corruption are all challenges you face.
I wish you well.
5 comments:
that person is simply a marketer and facilitator with very little policy influence. foreign investors take the current situation or leave it. his job is to convince them to take it. if the economy is growing so fast, they'll act on their best interest.
Sad times are when economies are in turmoil and people are suffering and government policy makers think they know what to do.
Chinese banks lack transparency and and China's state-owned companies account for 90% of overseas investments. These two factors alone should warn other foreign investors who have an inkling of current situation in Sri Lanka.
please open the boi cargo verification unit in hambantota(mattala)international airport.
please open the boi cargo verification unit in hambantota(mattala)international airport.
i read in a newspaper gov is planning to spend Rs 15 bn to build a sports city in Hambanthota for Asian Games. The lunatic management at SLC backed by gov maked the whole SLC a bankrupt laughing stock by building stadiums in the country insanely. These morons havent learnt the lesson still. How many things can we do in this country with that money. But gov is spending on stupid sport complexes that are going to be used only once and most probably would be left to destruction in the time to come. How can you even expect these buggers to create an environment that would attract investors. They have no ability in policy making or even a vision. These buggers think by erecting every concrete structure in SL the whole worls would come here. At times i feel like killin them.
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