Sri Lanka is to introduce a law to govern state-owned enterprises. This move was revealed during the final day of the Sri Lanka Economic Forum in Colombo. The two-day summit, titled Focus. Act. Deliver was organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Minister of Trade and Investment Malik Samarawickrema stated that a public enterprise act will be introduced which will comprise members of the leading private sectors and trade unions.
He added that they would dispose hotels, Lanka hospitals and prime commercial property in Colombo’s business district via the stock exchange
He went on to note that they are in the process of finalising PPP or Joint Venture arrangements for the post of Hambantota and Mattala Airport, thereby reducing the heavy debt burden. These transactions will be conducted in an open and transparent manner.
Elaborating on the loss made in state-owned enterprises Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera noted that Public Enterprises in Sri Lanka are making losses since it suffers chronic conflicts of interests, politicisation and captured by western interests.
He added that in 2008, Sri Lankan Airlines made a profit of around 40 Million USD , but within seven years the airline had lost nearly a billion USD. The cumulative losses of the largest five public enterprises are over 600 billion rupees, more than the entire health ministry and the education ministry budgets combined.
Leader of the JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake noted that the Sri Lankan airlines is a negative asset since it cannot be termed as a positive asset. The asset of hired planes were were calculated by the training provided to the staff and the liabilities are greater than them combined.
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