During her recent visit to Sri Lanka for the launch of the National Export Strategy, the head of the International Trade Centre*, Arancha González, held a session for the business community. I was fortunate to have chaired that session during which she shared some very interesting perspectives on the current trends in the global economy. … Continue reading Arancha González on Trade
Last month I attended a business forum in Singapore held to generate awareness and interest among the Singaporean business community around the opportunities in Sri Lanka, anchored to the SLSFTA. I recap here four of the most memorable quotes by different speakers: Wilson Lim, Executive Director of Commonwealth Capital (owners of recently opened restaurant ‘Pastamania’, … Continue reading Takeaways from ...
Last week, the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies hosted a timely seminar on ‘Sri Lanka at 70 Years Since Independence’, and I was invited to speak on ‘Economic perspectives for the future’. Given the vast subject matter that could be given on this, I thought I’d ask my intern what someone like him would like … Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka ...
Recently I was invited by the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (APAD) to deliver remarks at their annual regional forum, held in Colombo. I focussed on the economic imperatives of disaster resilience in cities, and possible initiatives and systems that can be fostered to strengthen urban resilience through innovation and a private sector approach. ————– … Continue reading Building Urban ...
Keynote Address at the Advocata Institute and Fraser Institute ‘Economic Freedom Summit 2017’, 12th October 2017. In my remarks today I will highlight some aspects of economic freedom – from my own perspective – that might find some resonance with you and try and provide some food for thought to take forward the … Continue reading Perspectives on ...
This week Sri Lanka and India held their latest round of negotiations on the India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (or ‘ETCA’). I thought it’s a good a time as any to recollect some ideas I shared at the Daily FT Forum last month on ‘Growing with Giants’ (referring to India and China) during … Continue reading Why Sri ...
At the recent Colombo International Tea Convention marking 150 years of Ceylon Tea, I was asked to speak on a panel on ‘Trade and Finance’. Amidst all the discussions around ethical tea, branding, and supply chain, I was keen to add a new perspective. I was also very conscious that I was one of only … Continue reading Ceylon Tea ...
On the sidelines of the recent Sri Lanka Economic Summit organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, I interviewed Dr. Harsha Vardhana Singh on an emerging area in international trade – private standards. Are they the new competitive edge? Are they a subtle Non-Tariff Barrier (NTB?) What role does the government have in helping firms … Continue reading The Curionomist ...
More than at any time in recent history, the health and performance of the Chinese economy is front-and-centre on the minds of investors, economists, businesses, banks and world leaders. In just thirty years, China has become systemically important to the global economy, probably more so than the US has been. It’s linkages to Asian supply … Continue reading China’s Growth ...
When David Irwin joined the UK Small Business Service as its first Chief Executive he had an uphill task – getting civil servants to understand enterprise promotion. One of the first things he did was to get all the bureaucrats in the agency to visit small businesses across the UK for several days each year … Continue reading The Curionomist ...
Sri Lanka has been talking about SME development for a long time. And trying to do something about it for most of that time too. Yet, the focus is too narrow, and a lot more refinement in the strategy is needed. Since leaving IPS I don’t work on SME issues as much as I used … Continue reading Tackling An ‘F’ and Two T’s in Sri Lanka’s SME Development Drive
The global CEO os DHL shared his take on Sri Lanka in a recent interview published in the DailyFT. Very revealing, coming from someone who sees the growth trajectory, economic performance, and strengths of countries around the world. For me, these four points stood out in terms of what he thinks of Sri Lanka: He believes that … Continue reading What does ...
According to a new report on the US retail sector, brick and mortar stores are haemorrhaging money as e-commerce dominates the retail scene more than anticipated by big retailers like Macys and Sears. Apparently, “the US retail industry is on pace to close more stores this year than the 6,200 shuttered during the Great Recession in … Continue reading Turning point for retail?
There’s a lot of discussion right now in the econ policy circles about how to strengthen the innovation eco-system in Sri Lanka to boost export competitiveness. In this, a particular focus is on better research-industry, or science-industry, linkages with the right mix of incentives. A new World Bank paper that studied the effect of government … Continue reading Public funds ...
There’s been a lot of writing on the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ or ‘Industry 4.0’. Nearly a year ago, I wrote about how this technological shift is ‘changing the world of work’. This new article debates whether this is all hyperbole or what it really means for business. The article argues that for businesses to truly … Continue reading Industry 4.0 ...
If a recent Daily Mirror news report is anything to go by, and has accurately reported his speech, the Prime Minister has stated that Sri Lanka has no future in apparels exports. The article cites a speech made by the PM at a school science exhibition, in which he has drawn from a Harvard University study done … Continue reading PM Says ...
At a recent conference organised by Monash University and Institute of Policy Studies, a fellow panelist in my session – Prof. Srinivas Sridharan – made a presentation that changed my understanding of informal entrepreneurs. Srinivas, an Associate Professor at Monash University’s School of Management presented his research on micro-entrepreneurs and subsistence entrepreneurs in 3 countries, including in India. He spoke … Continue reading Discerning, and ...
Today I had the pleasure of moderating a session with the trailblazing social entrepreneur, Shanaka Fernando at the ‘International Conference on Social Enterprises & SMEs for Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction’. Shanaka is Lankan-born and grew up in Australia, and is the Founder of ‘Lentil As Anything’, a unique social enterprise that now spans seven … Continue reading In Conversation ...
Visiting Parliament House in Canberra last weekend was revealing. The degree of openness was noticeable. We drove straight into the car park underground, no security manning the gates, and no boom gate operators. There’s usually a crescat-style entry ticket machine, but as it was a Sunday the boom gates were fully open – free parking. … Continue reading Power Structures
Yesterday, after weeks of speculation that it may not happen, members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – a producer cartel – agreed to cut supply by around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd). In overnight trading, oil prices rose sharply by 5-6% and hovered at close to US$ 47 a barrel. By this morning the gains … Continue reading Why an ...