8. Responsible Global Citizen
Non-Resident Sri Lankan (NRSL) communities will potentially join hands with the task of helping Sri Lanka if there is a friendly environment to do so. They need assurances that every dollar they spent in their country of birth is not wasted or ends up in unintended places.
We consider it the responsibility of the government to officially recognize the importance of the NRSL communities and their entitlement in making contributions to political decision making and policy making for the future of Sri Lanka. After a review of all institutional, structural and cultural barriers, facilitating processes will be introduced wherein the NRSL communities can play an active role. They need concrete policies and procedures that will ensure them that Sri Lanka will be a rule-based society.
We will recognize the NRSL communities as an integral part of the Sri Lankan Nation by introducing legislation to encourage dual citizenship with the right to vote and land/property ownership. We will take measures to implant a culture of accepting the NRSL communities as internal stakeholders through a new set of social norms including dealing with the terminology, social taboos, literature etc. A Multiparty parliamentary committee will be established to identify suitable & priority projects for the NRSL community to explore.
Read more https://lionelbopage.com/neweraforsrilanka/8-2-international-trade-and-partnerships/
The government has to proactively look for opportunities in the international arena. The Minister with the Trade and Investment portfolio needs to generally work closely with Ministers holding other portfolios in the cabinet, particularly with the portfolios of Industry, Agriculture and Treasury. The government needs to make decisions on providing incentives to potential investors and conduct research on international markets where there is a potential for Sri Lankan products to be marketed. It is also necessary to identify what new goods and services Sri Lanka should produce for an international market. Sri Lanka also needs to diversify the product range for bigger and better trading opportunities. It could range from small scale operations such as providing technical services to small businesses around the world to large scale manufacturing opportunities such as building motor vehicles.
The government also should reassess its procurement practices and tariff arrangements to support locally manufactured goods attracting foreign capital investment. For example, we would strongly advocate that government will signal to the international vehicle manufacturers its preparedness to purchase all government vehicles locally if they want to relocate their manufacturing plants to Sri Lanka.
We will promote a policy of regional collaboration and integration in South Asia to enhance the regional agreements and establishments that already exist, so that we can better address joint challenges and opportunities among the countries in the region. At the same time, we have huge political and security complexities due to unresolved ethnic, religious, linguistic and hegemonistic issues. In addition, this is complicated by the way any aspect of an endeavour for regional integration would impact on the national interest of a particular member.
We see regional collaboration being essential for economic integration that may allow sharing the benefits of a larger regional market and for coordinating large-scale, multi-country infrastructure projects, dealing with intra-regional migration streams, adopting common approaches to shared healthcare, education, justice, tourism and environmental issues etc. Regional collaboration would also contribute to raising a unified voice on behalf of the region on the global stage.
Sri Lankan Diaspora communities will potentially join hands with the task of helping Sri Lanka if there is a friendly environment to do so. They need assurances that every dollar they spent in their country of birth is not wasted or ends up in unintended places.
We consider it the responsibility of the government to officially recognize the importance of the Sri Lankan Diaspora communities and their entitlement in making contributions to political decision making and policy making for the future of Sri Lanka. After a review of all institutional, structural and cultural barriers, facilitating processes will be introduced wherein Sri Lankan Diaspora communities can play an active role. They need concrete policies and procedures that will ensure them that Sri Lanka will be a rule-based society.
We will recognize Sri Lankan Diaspora communities as an integral part of the Sri Lankan Nation by introducing legislation to encourage dual citizenship with the right to vote and land/property ownership. We will take measures to implant a culture of accepting Sri Lankan Diaspora communities as internal stakeholders through a new set of social norms including dealing with the terminology, social taboos, literature etc. A Multiparty parliamentary committee will be established to identify suitable & priority projects for Sri Lankan Diaspora communities to explore.