The Pathfinder Foundation in its 10th year (2015) undertook a wide range of activities including research on topical economic and strategic issues, advocacy targeted at policymakers, raising awareness amongst the population, promoting bilateral relations with important countries and disseminating information and analysis through the print, electronic as well as social media.
Promoting prudent economic policies
The Pathfinder Foundation published a series of Economic Alerts, Flashes and View Points on a number of key macroeconomic, structural and economic diplomacy-related issues. These included advocacy articles on fiscal sustainability, monetary and exchange rate management and promoting Colombo as a global financial centre. Articles on structural reforms included those on stateowned enterprise (SOE) reforms, improving doing business environment, education reform and a commentary on the post-1977 structural changes in Sri Lanka. A number of articles were also published on Indo-Lanka relations, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), strengthening commercial relations with China, including through capitalising on the Maritime Silk Road initiative, and diversifying economic relations by benefiting from the ‘Korean Miracle’.
Busting Election Myths
The Pathfinder Foundation also issued a number of Election Campaign Myth Busters, which sought to inform the manifesto writing processes of the political parties, as well as to increase public awareness regarding the key issues that had been shrouded in myths and falsification. This was complemented by the issuance of a holistic blueprint for reforms titled ‘Charting the Way Forward: Prosperity for All’, which was handed over to the main political parties. The foundation further had regular appearances on television programmes (especially Sinhala) focusing on a range of economic issues, including those featured prominently in the election campaign.
Track II initiatives
The Pathfinder Foundation carried out a substantive Track II programme to strengthen Sri Lanka’s bilateral relations with China, India and the US. It involved senior academics, businessmen, journalists and former senior government officials. There were also articles, which sought to offer possible solutions to address sensitive bilateral issues such as poaching by Indian fishermen, the Port City Project and deepening of economic and commercial relations with India. In implementing these Track II initiatives, the Pathfinder Foundation collaborated with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) and Heritage Foundation. As a pioneering initiative, the Pathfinder Foundation had the opportunity of partnering with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in facilitating a feasibility study on ways and means of strengthening economic co-operation between Korea and Sri Lanka, including the feasibility of entering into a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. The findings of the joint study by a professor at Dongduk Women’s University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Economic Studies, Seoul, together with a professor from the University of Peradeniya, who is also a senior fellow at the Pathfinder Foundation, were presented at a seminar held in Colombo.
Study centres inaugurated
During the course of the year, the Pathfinder Foundation’s Track II initiatives were consolidated through the inauguration of the China – Sri Lanka Co-operation Studies Centre (in collaboration with SIIS) and the Centre for Indo – Lanka – Initiatives (in partnership with VIF). These centres will promote a regular exchange of scholars, who will conduct research on key topical issues related to strengthening Sri Lanka’s relations with India and China, which will be major engines of growth in the world economy.
Plans for 2016
In 2016, the Pathfinder Foundation plans to consolidate its advocacy and research programmes and seek to build upon them by engaging more widely with international and local institutions and scholars. Its focus will be further expanded by engaging in work involving the China – Sri Lanka Co-operation Studies Centre and Centre for Indo – Lanka Initiatives. It is expected that both these centres will be fully operational by mid-2016. Meanwhile, the Pathfinder Foundation represents Sri Lanka in the ‘The Quad Plus’ process involving the Tokyo Foundation, Heritage Foundation, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), a group involving Australia, India, Japan and the US, spanning the Indo- Pacific region and focusing on common security interests.
