The UPFA government’s first budget presented in November 2004 incorporated some of the proposals submitted by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lankan (NCCSL). It is now a matter of implementation. The submissions herein emphasises on creating an enabling environment for economic activity, resulting in employment generation and achieving a substantial socioeconomic growth.

Following are the submissions to the present government towards achieving these goals. We give below the objectives, under each sector that the NCCSL wishes the government to achieve in the short and medium terms.

Peace: To achieve sustainable peace within the unitary state of Sri Lanka.

Law and Order: To ensure that all people, Sri Lankans and foreigners living in Sri Lanka can do so without anxiety or fear, and to cultivate a disciplined society in all walks of life.

Governance: To create an efficient public service attuned to rapidly respond to the needs of the people and to introduce transparency in all its dealings.

Economy and Financial Services: To achieve and sustain an economy growth of 8%- 10%, and at the same time control the cost of living.

Infrastructure: To upgrade the infrastructure of Sri Lankan with the assistance of foreign direct investment and assistance from multilateral agencies, to be comparable with the best in South Asia.

Transport - Lands and Water ways: To make optimum use of all available modes of transport.

Highways: To provide and maintain a network of highways connecting major cities.

Telecommunication: To provide an islandwide telecom network that is reliable, with sufficient bandwidth to transmit data rapidly.

Power and Energy: To provide an uninterrupted, reliable, cost-effective and competitively priced power supply to domestic consumers and industries.

Ports and Shipping: To make Sri Lankan the Shipping Hub of South Asia.

Airports: To provide international class facilities at Katunayake and other domestic airports to the increasing number of tourists, and travellers, both local and foreign.

Land: To make land an accepted and easily translatable commodity.

Irrigation: Get maximum returns from irrigable lands commensurate with the cost of irrigation.

HRD and Education: To provide a skilled and competent workforce eminently suitable for employment in the growing sectors of the economy of Sri Lanka.

Information and Communication Technology: To transform Sri Lanka thought ICT to a knowledge based economy and provide the benefits of this technology to the rural masses.

Labour Reforms: To introduce necessary amendments to the archaic labour laws to provide for increased efficiency and productivity, to enable Sri Lanka’s goods and services to be competitive in international markets, and to provide better standards of living to employees.

Employment: to reduce the unemployment rate by 1% of the labour force, (approx: 7.0 million) each year.

Trade, Commerce and Investment: Exports— Exports of goods and services to be the leading contributor to the growth of the economy, whilst ensuring quality of goods of exported.

Imports: To ensure that goods imported to Sri Lanka are of good quality and reasonably priced and essential items are made readily available.

Free Trade Agrements: To be selective when signing FTAs and to do so only if they are significantly beneficial to Sri Lanka and not detrimental to FTAs already signed.

Investment: To encourage foreign direct investment in infrastructure development and in establishment of joint ventures for export of complex, differentiated products that add unique value to the increasingly demanding customers.

WHO and Regional Trade: To promote regional trade as a means of building better relationships, both economically and politically between Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries.

Tourism: To achieve the 1 million target of tourist arrivals by 208.

Industries: Textile, apparel and later products: to encourage and assist private sector to improve productivity, rationalize production costs, find niche markets and build their own brand names.

Rubber products: to make rubber products a high value added industry.

Ceramies: To make the chromic industry an economically available venture.

Small and Medium enterprises: To recognise the SME sector as a major contributor to Sri Lanka’s economy and to give it recognition and status to be a vibrant force.

Agriculture: To enhance the contribution of the Agriculture Sector to the GDP growth, to achieve the overall GDP growth rate of 8-to 10%, and to provide better livelihood to farmers.

Fisheries: to attract investment, both local and foreign through reforms in the regulations and policies of the Fisheries sector in order to ensure the long term growth of the industry.