Empowering entrepreneurs to embrace our birthright

Last Friday, the Coalition Government launched one of its most enterprising schemes which it believes will be the centrepiece or showpiece of its sustainable, eco-friendly development strategy for the coming months and hopefully years.   

President Maithripala Sirisena launched the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ loan scheme with the aim of converting Sri Lanka into a haven for entrepreneurs. Under this programme, the brainchild or masterpiece of Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and State Minister Eran Wickramaratne, mainly small and medium scale entrepreneurs will be provided with three different loan schemes -- Ran Aswenna, Govi Navoda and Riya Shakthi.  

The President said if the State banks were making massive profits, it was important for these profits to be equally shared among the people through investments among the local entrepreneurs. He announced that about Rs. 60 billion would be given as loans to entrepreneurs. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the highly-publicised event to launch Enterprise Sri Lanka, pointed out that before the Coalition Government took office in 2015, Sri Lanka was not even able to repay its mountain of foreign debts let alone provide such a huge sum as loans to creative, innovative and enterprising people. Rejecting reports that the economy was in shambles, the Premier said that last year Sri Lanka received a large number of foreign direct investments while export earnings soared to the highest levels in recent years. Minister Samaraweera said an enterprise Sri Lanka desk would be set up at every bank and in addition, a relationship manager would be appointed to meet those who wished to obtain loans to launch enterprises. 

In jackets or front page advertisements published in most newspapers last Friday, the government said: “Enterprise Sri Lanka embraces our true birthright. Trade and enterprise run in our veins and are welded into our DNA. Ancient inscriptions and archaeological evidence, dating as far back as the Anuradhapura Kingdom era, give credence to the most outstanding maritime hub for east-west trade. We were Serendib to the Arabs, Taprobane to the Greeks and Lanka to the Indians, owing to our enterprising past. Trading was not by any means limited to goods brought in for local consumption; we were exporting our own produce, building ships of legendary sizes and acting as the main transhipment point for the region. We had international trade agreements, merchant guilds and our own globally accepted coinage long before most nations knew how to mint them. We were a thriving, entrepreneurial metropolis setting the benchmark for bold go-getters. That’s our glorious past. Then, why shouldn’t it be our present and our children’s future?”   

The government also said it was creating history by setting up the infrastructure and inviting all to boldly follow their dreams. Under Madya Aruna for registered journalists Rs. 300,000 would be given to buy media equipment. Under Divi Saviya Rs. 50,000 would be given for poultry producers and the self-employed to buy deep freezers. Under Arambuma Rs. 1.5 million would be given to young graduates. The full interest would be paid by the government. It said progress should not be the privilege, it was the right of every Sri Lankan. 

Attractive jacket advertisements and nice words are impressive. But during the past three years, the government has made many pledges and launched projects which have not been properly implemented. We hope Enterprise Sri Lanka will be different for the sake of the country, the younger and the future generations and not for the personal or party political gain or glory of any person or political party.   

Significantly, the Enterprise Sri Lanka launch coincided with the United Nations Day on June 26 for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In a statement, the UN said the goal was to encourage member States to facilitate observance of the day by increasing awareness and actions to support small business. According to the data provided by the International Council for Small Business, formal and informal micro, small and medium-sized enterprises make up more than 90% of all firms and account on average for 60-70% of total employment and 50% of GDP. 

 We hope that with our political leaders serving our people sincerely, selflessly and sacrificially, Sri Lanka could make steady and sustainable progress towards this goal and vision.