Advocata announces Economic Freedom Summit

Advocata Institute is excited to announce the Economic Freedom Summit, a three day event on economic freedom.  Based on Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Report, the event will look at areas where Sri Lanka can improve the levels of economic freedom in the  The event is in partnership with Canada’s Fraser Institute, the publishers of the report and Atlas network, an international network of free-market think tanks.

The Advocata Economic Freedom Summit summit is a series of events commencing on the 11th of October, centered around a conference: a series of roundtable discussions to bring together people from industry, academia and think tanks to identify areas to reform Sri Lanka’s economy. 

The event summit kicks off on the 11th with a discussion on the topic of whether Sri Lanka’s open economy has worked for Sri Lankans, followed the main event on the 12th of October that includes the roundtable discussion and Sri Lanka release of the Economic Freedom of the World report.

Sri Lanka ranked 94th according to the Fraser Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of the World Report an improvement from last year’s ranking of 101 the previous year.  This year the report is based on 2015 data collected in 159 countries and territories across the world.

Hong Kong and Singapore again top the index, continuing their streak as 1st and 2nd respectively. New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Georgia, Australia and Estonia round out the top 10.

“Where people are free to pursue their own opportunities and make their own choices, they lead more prosperous, happier and healthier lives,” said Fred McMahon, Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom with the Fraser Institute. Mr McMahon will deliver the opening address on Advocata’s Economic Freedom Summit on the state of economic freedom in Sri Lanka.

The summit includes keynote address by Economist Anushka Wijesinha with State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne also set to address a gathering on the 12th of October.  The summit will come to a close on the 13th October with an event in Sinhala titled “Economic Freedom us” where Prof Rohan Samarajiva is set to deliver the keynote address.

The conference presents an opportunity to reverse this trend by identifying the barriers to development and to kick-start the reform process. The Fraser Index identifies weaknesses in the legal system and property rights, trade restrictions, tariffs, cumbersome regulation and controls over foreign investment as the principal contributors to Sri Lanka’s low ranking. 

The Advocata Institute, which is hosting the event in collaboration with the Fraser Institute will present the final report to the Government.  

More information about the summit is on the summit website – www.efsummit.advocata.org