00:04 [Music]
00:09 

00:09 [Music]
00:14 

00:14 this is going to be a turning point
00:16 

00:16 in our country
00:22 

00:22 today good afternoon ladies and
00:24 

00:24 gentlemen
00:25 

00:25 a very good afternoon you're joining uh
00:44 

00:44 as the parliament debates and discusses
00:46 

00:46 this impossible
00:47 

00:47 that will probably have a significant
00:50 

00:50 impact on the future of sri lanka
00:52 

00:52 uh ladies and gentlemen let me just
00:54 

00:54 briefly explore
00:55 

00:55 explain to you what this new platform
01:06 

01:06 you can like you can comment on any of
01:08 

01:08 these platforms
01:09 

01:09 and you'll be picking up your questions
01:12 

01:12 so ladies and gentlemen
01:14 

01:14 we will try our absolute best to keep
01:17 

01:17 this more
01:18 

01:18 entertaining to keep this more
01:20 

01:20 informative
01:21 

01:21 than what's happening uh in parliament
01:24 

01:24 so stay tuned
01:25 

01:25 uh and and keep following the commentary
01:28 

01:28 uh let me not take any more time
01:30 

01:30 let me introduce uh my colleague anita
01:33 

01:33 and
01:33 

01:33 anita over to you
01:36 

01:36 thank you manga so as we said we're
01:39 

01:39 trying to keep this conversation a bit
01:41 

01:41 more light-hearted and definitely
01:44 

01:44 we're aiming to be more interesting than
01:46 

01:46 parliament
01:48 

01:48 and a part of this is that while we will
01:51 

01:51 be having live commentary
01:53 

01:53 and the live parliament feed we will
01:56 

01:56 also be bringing in
01:58 

01:58 a host of experts who will be jumping in
02:01 

02:01 for
02:01 

02:01 10-15 minutes to weigh in on the
02:04 

02:04 conversation
02:05 

02:05 lifetime so to start us off
02:09 

02:09 we have with us professor rohan
02:11 

02:11 samarajeeva
02:13 

02:13 professor sam rajeeva is well known
02:16 

02:16 among in in policy circles
02:18 

02:18 he's a member of the board of advisors
02:21 

02:21 at the advocate institute
02:22 

02:22 and he's also the founding chair of
02:24 

02:24 learn asia among
02:26 

02:26 many other accomplishments
02:30 

02:30 so um professor amrita thank you so much
02:32 

02:32 for joining us today
02:35 

02:35 happy to be here um
02:40 

02:40 so to start off our uh quick
02:43 

02:43 conversation do you think you could tell
02:45 

02:45 our audience what your outlook is on
02:48 

02:48 the bill following the supreme court
02:49 

02:49 decision
02:51 

02:51 oh whether it will get passed
02:55 

02:55 you don't need me for that uh
02:59 

02:59 a government uh you know even under
03:02 

03:02 ordinary parliamentary rules
03:04 

03:04 the whip can easily get the words
03:09 

03:09 the only question is
03:12 

03:12 are they going to make all the changes
03:15 

03:15 that the supreme court
03:16 

03:16 decision specified in which case they
03:20 

03:20 don't need
03:20 

03:20 the two-thirds but in my view
03:24 

03:24 these kinds of important
03:29 

03:29 [Music]
03:31 

03:31 laws uh which have
03:33 

03:33 which really should have a sense of
03:37 

03:37 everybody being behind them it's best
03:40 

03:40 that
03:40 

03:40 they get voted on with other than just
03:43 

03:43 the government
03:44 

03:44 uh government votes as i was listening
03:47 

03:47 to
03:48 

03:48 uh harsha de silva yesterday i was
03:50 

03:50 thinking there was some hope
03:52 

03:52 but then i saw the pictures
03:55 

03:55 and the slogans of people standing
03:58 

03:58 outside parliament today and
03:60 

03:60 i lost that hope
04:06 

04:06 would you like to jump in here professor
04:08 

04:08 uh
04:09 

04:09 i i will i think you uh you know you
04:12 

04:12 probably are one of the most experienced
04:14 

04:14 people to talk on on the regulatory
04:16 

04:16 environment in sri lanka
04:17 

04:17 so what's your what's your out take on
04:20 

04:20 on on
04:21 

04:21 the the regulatory environment that the
04:24 

04:24 bill proposed
04:25 

04:25 and also you know what the supreme court
04:27 

04:27 determination has done to those
04:29 

04:29 uh regulatory frameworks uh if you were
04:32 

04:32 to hit
04:32 

04:32 you know at the real bottom of the issue
04:35 

04:35 has there been progress and are you
04:36 

04:36 happy with
04:37 

04:37 the supreme court uh determination
04:41 

04:41 well when you talk about i mean the
04:44 

04:44 basic concept
04:46 

04:46 the basic concept of the greater colombo
04:48 

04:48 economic commission
04:51 

04:51 law which was from 1978
04:54 

04:54 the boi all the work that was done
04:58 

04:58 in the last few years on improving
05:01 

05:01 sri lanka's position in the
05:05 

05:05 ease of doing business index all of
05:08 

05:08 these
05:08 

05:08 hinge on a central concept that is
05:12 

05:12 the single window why is this concept
05:16 

05:16 important
05:16 

05:16 because for to do any one thing you can
05:21 

05:21 ask how many steps do you have to go
05:23 

05:23 through
05:23 

05:23 how many places do you have to go to and
05:27 

05:27 any of those places can slow you down
05:31 

05:31 and i mean they get to slow you down
05:33 

05:33 because of incompetence
05:35 

05:35 because the person in charge of the file
05:37 

05:37 hasn't come to work
05:39 

05:39 because they are expecting some kind of
05:41 

05:41 some kind of under the table
05:43 

05:43 consideration whatever right
05:46 

05:46 so the whole point of all these
05:48 

05:48 activities and i'm not saying this is
05:50 

05:50 unique to
05:51 

05:51 the port city bill the whole point of
05:53 

05:53 all these is
05:54 

05:54 the single window concept of simplifying
05:58 

05:58 things
05:59 

05:59 for the investor it's not that i
06:02 

06:02 think that we shouldn't simplify things
06:05 

06:05 for the citizen
06:06 

06:06 but you know we are long suffering lot
06:09 

06:09 and
06:11 

06:11 we are here because we want to be here
06:13 

06:13 because we can't get out one of the two
06:14 

06:14 reasons
06:16 

06:16 so we sort of take the punishment and i
06:19 

06:19 wish we could treat
06:20 

06:20 our people better that's why i sort of
06:23 

06:23 liked the whole
06:25 

06:25 what we were doing with ease of doing
06:27 

06:27 business and
06:28 

06:28 improving the ranks because even though
06:30 

06:30 it is intended to
06:32 

06:32 serve the foreign investor
06:36 

06:36 it also has the effect of helping
06:39 

06:39 the local businessman the local
06:42 

06:42 entrepreneur etc so
06:45 

06:45 the single business cons so if you look
06:48 

06:48 at the single window concept
06:51 

06:51 regulators i mean we talk about
06:54 

06:54 regulators as some special breed but
06:56 

06:56 quite a lot of what government does is
06:58 

06:58 regulation the difference is
07:00 

07:00 that there are entities that do
07:04 

07:04 formal explicit regulation
07:08 

07:08 rule-bound and there are those
07:11 

07:11 that can say yes or no and therefore
07:14 

07:14 regulate
07:15 

07:15 but don't necessarily do it in that
07:19 

07:19 formalized manner now
07:22 

07:22 i believe it is important to
07:27 

07:27 make regulation more efficient
07:30 

07:30 and the whole essence of regulation is
07:33 

07:33 something called discretion
07:34 

07:34 that is the ability to say yes or no so
07:37 

07:37 to
07:38 

07:38 to bound that to to limit that i mean of
07:41 

07:41 course you got to say yes
07:43 

07:43 or no otherwise there's no point but to
07:45 

07:45 bound it
07:46 

07:46 now directly connecting it to the
07:48 

07:48 supreme court decision
07:50 

07:50 i think there were some discussions
07:54 

07:54 where i was on discussions before
07:57 

07:57 the court case was was taken up by court
08:01 

08:01 about the meaning of the word conquer
08:04 

08:04 what is concurrence
08:06 

08:06 actually mean obtain concurrence give
08:09 

08:09 concurrence what do these things mean
08:12 

08:12 now
08:13 

08:13 i was of the opinion i actually looked
08:16 

08:16 back into
08:17 

08:17 my experience as a regulator and said
08:19 

08:19 you know
08:20 

08:20 when it said i had to get the minister's
08:22 

08:22 concurrence
08:24 

08:24 that means the minister could give it to
08:25 

08:25 me or he could not give it to me
08:28 

08:28 he had the binary option
08:31 

08:31 so if he didn't give it i couldn't go
08:34 

08:34 any further i'm done
08:36 

08:36 as a regulator here it said
08:39 

08:39 the port city commission will seek the
08:43 

08:43 concurrence will obtain the concurrence
08:46 

08:46 that means the central bank or some
08:50 

08:50 external regulator could say yes or no
08:53 

08:53 now the supreme court has looked at that
08:56 

08:56 and said why don't we take this word out
08:58 

08:58 altogether
09:00 

09:00 and say the external regulator will
09:03 

09:03 communicate
09:04 

09:04 its decision will communicate its
09:08 

09:08 decision
09:09 

09:09 that means that we don't even use the
09:10 

09:10 word concurrence we use
09:12 

09:12 we really highlight underline
09:15 

09:15 the fact that the central bank can say
09:18 

09:18 yes or no
09:19 

09:19 there's no prejudging of what that yes
09:22 

09:22 or no will be
09:24 

09:24 and they can communicate so
09:28 

09:28 let's just zoom in on that communication
09:33 

09:33 now even in my capacity as
09:36 

09:36 the chairman of the ict agency
09:40 

09:40 i can remember i had to write to my
09:42 

09:42 former
09:44 

09:44 uh regular my former organization 20
09:47 

09:47 years ago the one that i
09:51 

09:51 served as director general of the
09:54 

09:54 telecom regulatory commission
09:57 

09:57 about an interconnection matter that
09:59 

09:59 affected
10:01 

10:01 the government network
10:04 

10:04 and it took them in my opinion too long
10:07 

10:07 to rest front
10:09 

10:09 and this is an internal government
10:11 

10:11 matter etc
10:13 

10:13 etc etc and i was not very happy about
10:15 

10:15 their speed of
10:17 

10:17 response and even when they sent me a
10:20 

10:20 response it was what we call
10:22 

10:22 what mr kamala sabasin the former
10:25 

10:25 solicitor general used to call a balloon
10:27 

10:27 decision a balloon decision is you know
10:29 

10:29 it looks like a decision
10:32 

10:32 it's printed on paper but when you look
10:34 

10:34 at it there's really nothing there
10:36 

10:36 it's just words so they sent me a
10:39 

10:39 balloon
10:40 

10:40 and i had to put the different parties
10:42 

10:42 the different telecom operators
10:44 

10:44 before me and i said look you want me to
10:46 

10:46 get
10:48 

10:48 nasty or not
10:51 

10:51 why don't you guys sit here and figure
10:53 

10:53 it out and give me a solution
10:55 

10:55 for this thing because i'm not going to
10:56 

10:56 be held off stage
10:58 

10:58 and the regulator is not doing its job
11:01 

11:01 so now this is the kind of situation
11:04 

11:04 that we could
11:08 

11:08 end up with when you know everybody says
11:11 

11:11 let's empower the regulators but if you
11:13 

11:13 have incompetent regulators
11:15 

11:15 if they if regulators have the incentive
11:17 

11:17 to kick things down the
11:20 

11:20 down the road and not give decisions
11:22 

11:22 give balloon decisions
11:23 

11:23 delay obviously i think we've got a
11:27 

11:27 problem
11:28 

11:28 so i my point in all my interventions in
11:31 

11:31 this
11:32 

11:32 is we don't need to do this
11:36 

11:36 workaround and limit ourselves to work
11:38 

11:38 around
11:39 

11:39 what we have to do is to improve things
11:41 

11:41 for the whole country
11:43 

11:43 this is a temporary patch and if we have
11:46 

11:46 regulators that
11:48 

11:48 give substantive decisions within a
11:51 

11:51 decent time frame after looking at all
11:54 

11:54 the facts
11:55 

11:55 then concurrence
11:58 

11:58 giving addition all these things will be
11:59 

11:59 fine
12:05 

12:05 oh thank you professor uh in the
12:07 

12:07 interest of time
12:08 

12:08 i just have one other simple question to
12:10 

12:10 ask you because you brought up the
12:12 

12:12 concept of work
12:13 

12:13 work around uh are you satisfied with
12:16 

12:16 this work around that that the bill has
12:17 

12:17 proposed
12:18 

12:18 and or or is it more like you know we
12:20 

12:20 were expecting a workaround but are we
12:22 

12:22 getting a roundabout instead
12:27 

12:27 sri lanka seems to be a country that
12:31 

12:31 specializes in workarounds
12:37 

12:37 without really fixing the core problems
12:41 

12:41 um just give us one minute i think we're
12:43 

12:43 having some trouble with the sound
12:45 

12:45 uh we don't seem to be able to hear
12:51 

12:51 professor
13:02 

13:02 um so if you go back into history
13:06 

13:06 i mean we had a perfectly good
13:08 

13:08 irrigation department
13:11 

13:11 right going back to i think governor
13:13 

13:13 ward or governor
13:14 

13:14 gregory's time or something like that in
13:16 

13:16 the 19th century
13:18 

13:18 and then we come up with the river
13:20 

13:20 valley's galway development board
13:22 

13:22 river valley's development board mahali
13:25 

13:25 authority and so on we keep
13:26 

13:26 layering all kinds of solutions instead
13:29 

13:29 of
13:30 

13:30 fixing the irrigation depart
13:34 

13:34 and instead of fixing the overall
13:37 

13:37 business environment
13:39 

13:39 we create this enclave called
13:43 

13:43 the greater colombo economic commission
13:46 

13:46 40 years has gone and have things
13:49 

13:49 improved outside that we no longer need
13:53 

13:53 the workaround
13:53 

13:53 called the greater colombo economic
13:55 

13:55 commission now called the boi
13:58 

13:58 so let's just look at infrastructure
14:02 

14:02 when a boi company wants
14:05 

14:05 water they go to the boi
14:08 

14:08 yeah they go to the boi when they want
14:12 

14:12 immigration clearance getting a work
14:14 

14:14 permit for somebody they go to the boi
14:19 

14:19 only thing i think they can do without
14:21 

14:21 going to the boi
14:23 

14:23 today 40 years later 43 years later
14:27 

14:27 is perhaps get a telephone connection
14:31 

14:31 now that's one sector thanks to people
14:34 

14:34 like
14:34 

14:34 uh bangladesh and
14:37 

14:37 so on that was fixed the telecom sector
14:41 

14:41 was fixed
14:42 

14:42 liberalized reform but we have fixed
14:46 

14:46 water we haven't fixed electricity
14:50 

14:50 we have fixed the corrupt
14:53 

14:53 immigration system work permit system
14:58 

14:58 and we still need workarounds so if a
15:01 

15:01 company is a boy registered company they
15:03 

15:03 might be able to get a workbook
15:05 

15:05 if they're not
15:08 

15:08 good luck to them
15:13 

15:13 so no i'm not very happy i my preference
15:15 

15:15 would have been
15:16 

15:16 that this particular workaround should
15:18 

15:18 have had some
15:19 

15:19 time-bound targets which said
15:22 

15:22 you know the external sector will be
15:25 

15:25 improved
15:26 

15:26 and then we'll remove the workaround
15:30 

15:30 we don't want to go on like this for 40
15:32 

15:32 years
15:36 

15:36 so i think we have a bit of a time
15:39 

15:39 constraint
15:40 

15:40 but thank you so much professor
15:42 

15:42 sanrajeeva for joining us
15:44 

15:44 today um and to everyone listening
15:48 

15:48 in please do join into the conversation
15:51 

15:51 you can leave your comments
15:52 

15:52 on twitch on facebook and we will be
15:56 

15:56 sure to incorporate it into
15:57 

15:57 the discussion today
16:00 

16:00 thank you professor once again it was a
16:02 

16:02 pleasure having you uh
16:04 

16:04 now uh shall we shall we just uh you
16:07 

16:07 know
16:08 

16:08 listen to uh a few minutes of the
16:10 

16:10 parliament to debate
16:11 

16:11 and come back uh to our commencement
17:31 

17:31 foreign
17:60 

17:60 a
19:37 

19:37 foreign
20:31 

20:31 variety of issues raised ranging from
20:35 

20:35 the whether a visa is required to enter
20:38 

20:38 the fourth city the eroding powers of
20:41 

20:41 the legislation
20:43 

20:43 and and whether porn city is really
20:45 

20:45 going to be a solution
20:47 

20:47 to as a or as an escape from sri lanka's
20:50 

20:50 problems
20:51 

20:51 um and now we have an
20:54 

20:54 expert joining us who will hopefully
20:56 

20:56 have some answers for our questions
20:58 

20:58 um we have mr manchuka fernando
21:02 

21:02 mr fernando kula is an independent legal
21:04 

21:04 practitioner he has appeared as junior
21:07 

21:07 council in several international chamber
21:08 

21:08 of commerce
21:09 

21:09 arbitrations and we're very excited to
21:12 

21:12 have him as a part of today's discussion
21:15 

21:15 mr manchuk thank you for joining us
21:17 

21:17 thank you thank you very much i
21:19 

21:19 expect i joined as i was junior in the
21:21 

21:21 for the umps case in the upper city
21:23 

21:23 itself
21:24 

21:24 we challenged it and it was our hour
21:27 

21:27 it was our petition that in fact raised
21:31 

21:31 the issue of the entire public
21:32 

21:32 cooperation issue
21:33 

21:33 and what is now uh the supreme court
21:37 

21:37 struck down clause 37 and that is
21:41 

21:41 where i think it is we took up to which
21:43 

21:43 entire shop by
21:46 

21:46 transfer pricing and now they have come
21:48 

21:48 up with the formula
21:50 

21:50 uh which i'm not sure which i actually
21:52 

21:52 don't think it
21:53 

21:53 conforms to what the spirit of the
21:55 

21:55 supreme court said
22:11 

22:11 what the supreme foreign has said and
22:13 

22:13 and also
22:14 

22:14 your whole analysis on on on the
22:16 

22:16 decision especially as you were part of
22:18 

22:18 the whole process
22:20 

22:20 well my analysis of decision is that i
22:22 

22:22 mean basically the supreme court
22:25 

22:25 took him to the view i think they were
22:26 

22:26 very concerned about the fact
22:28 

22:28 that uh the taxation power the
22:31 

22:31 regulatory power
22:33 

22:33 they were interested only uh the
22:36 

22:36 regulatory
22:36 

22:36 power to be in respect of whatever
22:40 

22:40 concessions or whatever within the
22:42 

22:42 community within that port city area
22:44 

22:44 to be within so-called port city
22:46 

22:46 commission to
22:47 

22:47 regulate so for example he didn't want
22:50 

22:50 he didn't want to have
22:51 

22:51 it it only wanted the commission be able
22:54 

22:54 to give the concessions
22:55 

22:55 but the enforcement of those or
22:57 

22:57 violations
22:58 

22:58 of prosecution all need to be still
23:02 

23:02 there
23:02 

23:02 and those they wanted the regulatory
23:04 

23:04 other regulatory authority to be there
23:06 

23:06 and i think that's what they were on the
23:07 

23:07 spirit of trying to do that
23:09 

23:09 because there were several provisions
23:11 

23:11 which said that you know the
23:13 

23:13 sole authority for regulation would fall
23:15 

23:15 into the commission's hands
23:17 

23:17 and that was a bit of a question but
23:20 

23:20 because the entire
23:21 

23:21 commission itself is not a commission
23:23 

23:23 it's a corporate body
23:25 

23:25 which is in fact a private corporate
23:27 

23:27 body uh
23:29 

23:29 which is funded by the what so-called
23:31 

23:31 project company and that is another
23:33 

23:33 concern for us
23:34 

23:34 that we made submissions in the court
23:36 

23:36 saying that
23:38 

23:38 this is uh in fact a corporate body
23:43 

23:43 which is uh which is capitalized by a
23:46 

23:46 chinese state identity and another
23:49 

23:49 aspect which pointed out
23:50 

23:50 is that this funding is in fact
23:54 

23:54 protected by the china sri lanka
23:55 

23:55 investment treaty
23:57 

23:57 because it is investment in terms of the
23:58 

23:58 treaty and we did not know the terms of
24:01 

24:01 that
24:01 

24:01 funding that could be converted we made
24:03 

24:03 a made a question whether that tells any
24:06 

24:06 uh can can be used like that so-called
24:10 

24:10 loan can be a can be convertible if it's
24:13 

24:13 dependent
24:14 

24:14 convertible that was made subject but
24:16 

24:16 the supreme court unfortunately did not
24:18 

24:18 make a reference to the submissions
24:20 

24:20 but that is a question that is a very
24:22 

24:22 serious question i think we
24:23 

24:23 looked at because in our opinion it
24:27 

24:27 actually
24:28 

24:28 it's actually
24:31 

24:31 actually uh curtails regulatory power
24:34 

24:34 the state in terms of the
24:36 

24:36 investment treaty because you must look
24:37 

24:37 at all this in the context of two other
24:40 

24:40 uh agreements which is the double
24:42 

24:42 taxation between the with the chinese
24:45 

24:45 and in and also the investment treaty so
24:47 

24:47 those things were not that we did make
24:49 

24:49 submissions but those are not
24:50 

24:50 i don't think paying attention but what
24:52 

24:52 supreme court is i think has done
24:55 

24:55 is to feel that they at least
24:58 

24:58 when it comes to tax concessions there
25:00 

25:00 is some kind of gliding right here and
25:02 

25:02 the
25:02 

25:02 parliament continues to be involved in
25:04 

25:04 it because
25:06 

25:06 taxing power is uh one of the most
25:09 

25:09 important
25:09 

25:09 regulatory part of the state in fact one
25:12 

25:12 of us one of the most important
25:13 

25:13 suffering powers or suffering
25:15 

25:15 size of sovereign power per state and if
25:17 

25:17 it's taken away and given to a private
25:19 

25:19 entity
25:20 

25:20 that is a fairly serious question and
25:23 

25:23 especially if that entity is controlled
25:24 

25:24 by a
25:25 

25:25 state-owned enterprise of another
25:27 

25:27 another
25:28 

25:28 country sovereign country which is
25:30 

25:30 arguably going to be the biggest economy
25:32 

25:32 mostly powerful in this region then
25:35 

25:35 there's a big good point question that
25:37 

25:37 has put into
25:38 

25:38 i i wonder whether you follow you uh if
25:42 

25:42 i was
25:42 

25:42 you know just uh build up on the
25:44 

25:44 argument that you've uh spoken on
25:46 

25:46 now what's going to happen to
25:48 

25:48 parliamentary accountability
25:49 

25:49 uh has the supreme court uh enshrined uh
25:52 

25:52 parliamentary accountability over the
25:55 

25:55 commission
25:59 

25:59 because supreme court took two wheels
26:01 

26:01 one thing that we
26:02 

26:02 looked at was the entire 158
26:05 

26:05 so now the original draft only referred
26:08 

26:08 to a qualified auditor
26:10 

26:10 right and then they they said that you
26:13 

26:13 need to be qualified auditor and
26:14 

26:14 therefore then they went up idea of
26:16 

26:16 the question of uh
26:20 

26:20 international internet international
26:22 

26:22 reputed reform that was uh
26:24 

26:24 ambiguous there's a lot of ambiguity in
26:26 

26:26 the terms of these three of these so
26:28 

26:28 in submissions uh in the reply
26:30 

26:30 submissions
26:32 

26:32 the council to the other side who
26:33 

26:33 represent the various government in
26:35 

26:35 support of the bill
26:36 

26:36 went back to 158 our submission said
26:39 

26:39 that it only referred to qualified
26:41 

26:41 auditor
26:41 

26:41 it did not refer to the entire process
26:43 

26:43 in 158 158
26:45 

26:45 means uh it has a process whether you go
26:48 

26:48 to the attendance rather
26:49 

26:49 what is the general with the concurrence
26:52 

26:52 of the minister
26:53 

26:53 or the minister has to uh can
26:56 

26:56 appoint a private auditor who is
26:59 

26:59 accountable
26:60 

26:60 to the auditor general to auditor
27:03 

27:03 what uh government state corporation
27:05 

27:05 that is the process
27:07 

27:07 now the supreme we made that submission
27:10 

27:10 supreme court
27:11 

27:11 took the word of the attorney general
27:13 

27:13 and said 158 stays
27:14 

27:14 intact so it says that if it first
27:18 

27:18 goes back to 158 it seems to now uh say
27:21 

27:21 that you must read the
27:22 

27:22 entire two provisions in the bill
27:24 

27:24 conjunctively and the 158 process
27:27 

27:27 is alive now if so there'll be
27:30 

27:30 argument that it may come within coke
27:34 

27:34 it may come within uh
27:37 

27:37 public accounts it has to submit his
27:39 

27:39 accounts to parliament and that process
27:41 

27:41 is intact but that is a mode because
27:43 

27:43 what depends on how they
27:44 

27:44 are at at which point if they refuse to
27:46 

27:46 do so or take context
27:48 

27:48 there'll be a question but the bill
27:50 

27:50 seems actually the determination in the
27:51 

27:51 minds of the court seems to be that
27:53 

27:53 it is so that is one point but of course
27:56 

27:56 having said that
27:58 

27:58 the entire you there is provision for
27:60 

28:00 this as it stands now
28:02 

28:02 for foreigners to be appointed now if
28:04 

28:04 foreigners are appointed
28:06 

28:06 and they don't need to be resident
28:07 

28:07 industry like the bill specifically says
28:09 

28:09 that
28:09 

28:09 they can even remotely meet the question
28:12 

28:12 is whether
28:13 

28:13 they are then some you can practically
28:15 

28:15 subject to the jewish
28:17 

28:17 country that is a problem uh
28:20 

28:20 also the question then also be another
28:22 

28:22 problem
28:23 

28:23 the big question mark whether this is
28:25 

28:25 subject fr
28:26 

28:26 and uh jurisdiction because
28:30 

28:30 you see that when when sri lankan
28:32 

28:32 airlines were privatized
28:34 

28:34 and there was a far challenge thereafter
28:38 

28:38 that is when the sri lankan airlines
28:40 

28:40 government the government
28:42 

28:42 government sold 49 percent the supreme
28:45 

28:45 court at that point said that it is not
28:47 

28:47 subject to
28:48 

28:48 far now the current formulation of for
28:50 

28:50 the power
28:51 

28:51 of the ownership of this is it itself it
28:53 

28:53 says
28:54 

28:54 uh self uh uh
28:57 

28:57 sustaining the funding is from a private
28:60 

28:60 entity
29:00 

29:00 a state-owned corporation and therefore
29:03 

29:03 question will arise with the
29:04 

29:04 whether they are subject to fundamental
29:07 

29:07 rights
29:08 

29:08 the counter-argument of that is the
29:10 

29:10 question is
29:11 

29:11 a string of authority where it says very
29:13 

29:13 very
29:14 

29:14 in english law which has actually been
29:16 

29:16 written because of its very
29:19 

29:19 where you exercise powers akin to
29:21 

29:21 government the english courts have said
29:23 

29:23 that exported database
29:24 

29:24 have said that you can immediately break
29:28 

29:28 because it what you call exercise so
29:30 

29:30 there is a
29:31 

29:31 mood question there and a power an
29:33 

29:33 entity like this
29:35 

29:35 that does not is not clarity as to
29:38 

29:38 whether you can do so it's an issue
29:40 

29:40 and then the counter argument another
29:43 

29:43 problem to that is anybody saying
29:45 

29:45 if the court were to work to exaggerate
29:48 

29:48 human orders
29:49 

29:49 whether that would transfer transfers
29:51 

29:51 any provision of the fund
29:52 

29:52 of the investment treaty whether the
29:56 

29:56 whether these entities the body
29:57 

29:57 corporate or the p persons there were
29:59 

29:59 investors
29:60 

29:60 the soe can go to a international and
30:03 

30:03 i would say that this is a violent
30:05 

30:05 report excessive jurisdiction
30:07 

30:07 is a is a violation of fair and
30:08 

30:08 equitable treatment that is something
30:10 

30:10 which is very
30:11 

30:11 insidious and question uh
30:14 

30:14 if are you are you with me in this yeah
30:20 

30:20 so that is a problem that is indeed a
30:22 

30:22 problem
30:23 

30:23 and we i mean that's a problem and other
30:26 

30:26 thing is that i
30:27 

30:27 we found is that you know that the uh
30:30 

30:30 the
30:30 

30:30 treaty itself the financial investment
30:32 

30:32 treaty and if you take article 11
30:35 

30:35 it is almost what i would call a
30:37 

30:37 self-charging exception
30:40 

30:40 because it says that nothing in the
30:42 

30:42 treaty shall curtail
30:44 

30:44 the rights of rights to regulate on
30:46 

30:46 certain grounds
30:47 

30:47 that is on public health on
30:51 

30:51 on public on article 11 says public
30:55 

30:55 on on public public health
30:59 

30:59 on interest and national interest
31:03 

31:03 and uh national interest
31:07 

31:07 public health and disease of pills and
31:10 

31:10 animals you can't you have the
31:11 

31:11 government has absolutely
31:13 

31:13 the power to regulate one transplant
31:15 

31:15 approaching the tree if you take
31:17 

31:17 articles section 67 of the lies
31:19 

31:19 provision of the street
31:21 

31:21 it narrows that the regulatory power
31:25 

31:25 if you take 67 you cannot you it is
31:28 

31:28 once you give it you cannot take it
31:30 

31:30 except for very very very very uh
31:32 

31:32 very uh very uh
31:36 

31:36 i mean almost difficult to remove a
31:38 

31:38 license and that is contrary to the that
31:40 

31:40 is
31:41 

31:41 so while china does not uh
31:44 

31:44 not minimize regulatory power listed we
31:47 

31:47 are regulated
31:48 

31:48 because it also because it itself talks
31:50 

31:50 about
31:51 

31:51 you can give additional commitments and
31:54 

31:54 this will be additional commitments for
31:56 

31:56 the reason
31:57 

31:57 that uh this by law we are committing
32:00 

32:00 more toward
32:02 

32:02 investors to uh restrict a liquidity
32:05 

32:05 power
32:06 

32:06 that is the problem and then therefore
32:08 

32:08 there is nowhere in this treaty which
32:09 

32:09 states
32:10 

32:10 for example when this
32:13 

32:13 in this in this
32:16 

32:16 bill says for example whether
32:20 

32:20 you need to go to a you need for
32:22 

32:22 national security reasons
32:24 

32:24 right for example can you then uh do you
32:27 

32:27 have to
32:28 

32:28 uh can you remove revoke license
32:32 

32:32 in terms of the treaty you can do that
32:34 

32:34 almost a cash blanche power because
32:36 

32:36 that's what you call
32:37 

32:37 self charging because if a state decides
32:39 

32:39 to do it
32:41 

32:41 but the name of the national interest
32:43 

32:43 national security that doesn't need to
32:45 

32:45 be
32:45 

32:45 cannot be challenged but i my opinion
32:48 

32:48 now
32:49 

32:49 in terms of this uh provision in terms
32:52 

32:52 of this bill
32:53 

32:53 only is that you have to
32:57 

32:57 test now trying to argue a professional
32:60 

33:00 test or can i can i can i disturb you
33:03 

33:03 for a minute
33:04 

33:04 uh because uh mr suren fernando has has
33:07 

33:07 joined us on live
33:08 

33:08 uh so in the interest of time uh let's
33:10 

33:10 let's link it to
33:11 

33:11 let's link the same conversation to him
33:13 

33:13 uh mr surin fernando
33:15 

33:15 can you can you uh give us a uh give us
33:17 

33:17 your look in your analysis
33:19 

33:19 of the proposed bill and the supreme
33:21 

33:21 court determination
33:24 

33:24 hi good afternoon thanks for having me
33:28 

33:28 yeah so basically we have a
33:31 

33:31 several issues on which various
33:33 

33:33 petitioners went before court
33:36 

33:36 and i think almost everyone was agreed
33:39 

33:39 that we certainly do need a port city or
33:43 

33:43 international financial center
33:45 

33:45 that type of a model but i think the
33:47 

33:47 dispute was
33:48 

33:48 around how you do it now some of the
33:51 

33:51 problematic areas
33:53 

33:53 in the field as it stands
33:56 

33:56 uh revolves around the starting from the
33:59 

33:59 appointment of the commission itself
34:01 

34:01 because the commission has between five
34:02 

34:02 to seven members
34:05 

34:05 there are some criteria specified there
34:07 

34:07 but
34:08 

34:08 two immediate problems which spring out
34:11 

34:11 is that it's appointed by one person the
34:13 

34:13 president
34:14 

34:14 uh if it was in like the 19th amendment
34:17 

34:17 times it might have been on the advice
34:18 

34:18 of a constitutional council
34:20 

34:20 so you will have some sort of waiting
34:21 

34:21 mechanism which in the 20th amendment
34:23 

34:23 regime we now don't have
34:25 

34:25 and now in this bill unlike for certain
34:27 

34:27 other appointments
34:29 

34:29 uh you don't even have the kind of
34:31 

34:31 consultation because you don't even go
34:33 

34:33 to a
34:33 

34:33 parliamentary council so the danger of
34:36 

34:36 one person appointing
34:38 

34:38 such a powerful body as this the second
34:40 

34:40 thing
34:42 

34:42 you might have different views on it but
34:44 

34:44 the question as to whether
34:46 

34:46 because the bill as it stood allows the
34:48 

34:48 entire
34:50 

34:50 court of commissioners to be even
34:52 

34:52 foreigners
34:53 

34:53 so whether there would be accountability
34:56 

34:56 and whether
34:57 

34:57 at least some should be official
35:00 

35:00 appointments maybe the nominee of the
35:02 

35:02 central bank
35:03 

35:03 uh or the nominee of the secretary of
35:05 

35:05 state maybe there should be
35:07 

35:07 four or five it's official appointments
35:10 

35:10 uh and maybe at least some should have
35:13 

35:13 been three languages then again the
35:15 

35:15 director general also
35:16 

35:16 yes sorry and the problem is that i
35:18 

35:18 think the supreme court
35:19 

35:19 also is that we may not be able to
35:22 

35:22 change this skill because there was a
35:24 

35:24 question that we raised i mean
35:27 

35:27 i think he made the most uh
35:28 

35:28 contributions to this entire thing is in
35:31 

35:31 main trust
35:32 

35:32 he want to reply the final reply so
35:35 

35:35 i think hiraj made that point to the
35:37 

35:37 supreme court one thing he made was
35:39 

35:39 the question of uh i think you are not
35:41 

35:41 there
35:42 

35:42 but did make that point and say that
35:45 

35:45 which actually the supreme court took
35:48 

35:48 seriously the thought
35:49 

35:49 clause 37 there was uh where the issue
35:52 

35:52 was on
35:53 

35:53 on transfer pricing and
35:57 

35:57 the supreme court has agreed uh that is
35:60 

35:60 a problem but they need a formulation
36:01 

36:01 and that's another problem
36:03 

36:03 that's more insidious than anything else
36:04 

36:04 because that basically undermines you
36:06 

36:06 can take control of the tech entire
36:07 

36:07 economy
36:09 

36:09 the question on the question that in
36:11 

36:11 fact
36:12 

36:12 that mr mandiran made a submission and
36:13 

36:13 said that the danger of that is
36:15 

36:15 of not having a state public corporation
36:17 

36:17 and foreign has been appointed
36:19 

36:19 is that the question is that you don't
36:21 

36:21 need to take the world
36:22 

36:22 in terms of our schedule for article 67
36:26 

36:26 now article 67 the nasa missions also be
36:29 

36:29 made it's
36:29 

36:29 one way of anchoring two and three into
36:32 

36:32 the entire process
36:33 

36:33 because you take a submission make a
36:34 

36:34 maker take oath
36:36 

36:36 that you will uphold the constitution
36:37 

36:37 it's full and it does and you get a
36:40 

36:40 person who feels like regulatory power
36:42 

36:42 in a private company
36:44 

36:44 he not taking oath of religious country
36:46 

36:46 that is indeed a problem i think that's
36:48 

36:48 the
36:48 

36:48 biggest problem i think there is another
36:51 

36:51 problem is that
36:52 

36:52 whether this top entire entire
36:54 

36:54 cooperation
36:55 

36:55 okay or whatever how we carry can it be
36:57 

36:57 wound now in terms of
36:59 

36:59 public corporations the issue is in
37:02 

37:02 terms of our
37:02 

37:02 say if you what prevents you from
37:06 

37:06 voluntary
37:10 

37:10 [Music]
37:14 

37:14 finance act of 1971 which says only the
37:16 

37:16 minister by resolution can do so
37:18 

37:18 but there is nothing silent as to
37:21 

37:21 whether you can have a
37:22 

37:22 voluntary winding up in this thing and
37:24 

37:24 if so where does the asset store of this
37:26 

37:26 that is all left moved here that's the
37:29 

37:29 problem is
37:30 

37:30 if you have a if you have a state
37:31 

37:31 corporation you resolve all
37:34 

37:34 that that is why we made it and that's
37:36 

37:36 important also when it's a
37:38 

37:38 regulatory power in it being transferred
37:40 

37:40 that that
37:41 

37:41 individuals can it has to have persons
37:44 

37:44 who have religions to a particular
37:45 

37:45 country i don't think any
37:46 

37:46 country has a
37:48 

37:48 [Music]
37:50 

37:50 person has anything any person who has
37:52 

37:52 made uh
37:53 

37:53 for his regulatory powers who are not
37:55 

37:55 really what the village even met
37:57 

37:57 even in uk the state of the governor
37:60 

37:60 canadian governor
38:02 

38:02 was appointed to took over has taken the
38:04 

38:04 oaths of religion the queen which all
38:06 

38:06 public servants even
38:07 

38:07 uk did and here is a regulatory power
38:10 

38:10 given to
38:10 

38:10 individuals who may not have raised you
38:12 

38:12 may not have
38:13 

38:13 religious heritage allegiance to the
38:15 

38:15 country that's a bigger problem
38:17 

38:17 thank you thank you mr manchuka if i
38:19 

38:19 could just jump in
38:20 

38:20 i think we've had one question from the
38:22 

38:22 audience
38:23 

38:23 very simple answer required now that the
38:26 

38:26 supreme court has given its decision
38:29 

38:29 what are the what are the differences in
38:31 

38:31 terms of the exemptions
38:33 

38:33 that are being provided through this
38:35 

38:35 port city
38:37 

38:37 well the spot what supreme court did say
38:40 

38:40 well they they allowed the taxes
38:44 

38:44 itself but what they've wanted it is
38:46 

38:46 they have now told if you want you call
38:48 

38:48 the strategic development
38:50 

38:50 you have to go in terms of the what you
38:52 

38:52 call the
38:53 

38:53 law the scheduled scheduled uh schedule
38:56 

38:56 two right schedule two
38:58 

38:58 you can't exempt it entirely from the
39:01 

39:01 from the
39:02 

39:02 from the act but only you can do
39:04 

39:04 exemptions on that
39:05 

39:05 so which means that you cannot you are
39:07 

39:07 not taking away the enforcement powers
39:09 

39:09 of
39:09 

39:09 enforcement powers of the illegal
39:12 

39:12 department but you can give exemptions
39:14 

39:14 now now that i i think you'll be
39:16 

39:16 interesting to point out
39:18 

39:18 what what exemptions can you give for
39:21 

39:21 example from gaming
39:22 

39:22 or from the issue of the betting on
39:26 

39:26 by audience because those generally are
39:29 

39:29 only revenue
39:30 

39:30 or revenue license and revenue fees it's
39:32 

39:32 not running my license it's only fees
39:34 

39:34 so i i don't know are you going to you
39:36 

39:36 can't and they
39:37 

39:37 but particularly you can't hold exactly
39:40 

39:40 so what are you going to exempt it from
39:42 

39:42 sorry nuts
39:44 

39:44 so i i don't know that is very workable
39:46 

39:46 even but i've been said that that is
39:48 

39:48 what they restricted it to
39:49 

39:49 so that is an issue
39:54 

39:54 so thank you very much mr fernandopolis
39:57 

39:57 for joining us today
39:58 

39:58 um moving to mr siren
40:02 

40:02 ferenando who we also have on the call
40:05 

40:05 in terms of accountability for the
40:08 

40:08 economic commission
40:10 

40:10 what would you have to say if even in
40:12 

40:12 the context of the supreme court
40:13 

40:13 decision
40:16 

40:16 yeah so as i have seen earlier so now
40:19 

40:19 you have the problem now the attorney
40:20 

40:20 general
40:21 

40:21 give an undertaking to quote it's
40:22 

40:22 recorded in the determination
40:24 

40:24 that uh oh sorry majority of the members
40:28 

40:28 at least
40:29 

40:29 will be sri lanka but when you talk
40:32 

40:32 about accountability
40:34 

40:34 uh it should happen in various ways so
40:35 

40:35 now i mean this is a statutory body
40:38 

40:38 exercising enormous amounts of power i
40:41 

40:41 think the fundamental thing would be
40:42 

40:42 that you should specify in the law that
40:44 

40:44 your accounts are going to be audited by
40:46 

40:46 the auditor general
40:47 

40:47 but as mantra said about the act refers
40:51 

40:51 to
40:51 

40:51 qualified auditor so the books the
40:54 

40:54 primary audit is going to be done
40:56 

40:56 possibly by someone other than the
40:59 

40:59 auditor
41:00 

41:00 now despite that there is a possibility
41:03 

41:03 to argue that under the constitution
41:05 

41:05 because he is a statutory body
41:07 

41:07 the auditor general should audit but
41:09 

41:09 that might not be that might be more
41:11 

41:11 forensic audits and those type of things
41:14 

41:14 the
41:15 

41:15 activity for the normal knowledge seems
41:17 

41:17 to say
41:18 

41:18 any qualified audition so why that is uh
41:21 

41:21 is a question
41:22 

41:22 then in terms of accountability
41:26 

41:26 by powers was ought to be given in the
41:28 

41:28 bill
41:29 

41:29 or the commission to determine which
41:32 

41:32 exemptions are going to be given
41:35 

41:35 to which investors you had in schedule
41:37 

41:37 to
41:38 

41:38 a big shopping list of possible
41:40 

41:40 exemptions and the commission was to
41:42 

41:42 decide that
41:43 

41:43 now one would think that this type of a
41:46 

41:46 law should have specified
41:47 

41:47 criteria so that it's transparent and
41:50 

41:50 you know okay if i invest so much for
41:52 

41:52 these purposes then these are the types
41:54 

41:54 of
41:55 

41:55 exemptions i can get and it's not just
41:57 

41:57 because i like your face or
41:58 

41:58 mathematically that i'm going to give
41:60 

41:60 you exemptions
42:01 

42:01 so the supreme court kept in there and
42:04 

42:04 it said that that created arbiter in us
42:06 

42:06 and you cannot do it like that
42:09 

42:09 exemptions can be given
42:10 

42:10 based on guidelines and those must be
42:14 

42:14 approved by parliament
42:16 

42:16 so at least now you have a situation
42:18 

42:18 where
42:19 

42:19 the guidelines or the basis on which
42:21 

42:21 exemptions are given will have to be
42:22 

42:22 approved by parliament
42:24 

42:24 and if the commission will have to
42:26 

42:26 implement
42:27 

42:27 those guidelines so there will be some
42:30 

42:30 sort of
42:32 

42:32 accountability there then again you had
42:34 

42:34 a situation where
42:35 

42:35 the bill as it stood said uh you know
42:38 

42:38 when regulatory authorities have to
42:40 

42:40 grant approvals
42:41 

42:41 the commission tells them these
42:42 

42:42 approvals are needed and they shall run
42:45 

42:45 so then their discretion was also taken
42:47 

42:47 away
42:48 

42:48 so the supreme court has stepped in
42:50 

42:50 there and basically reinstated the fact
42:52 

42:52 that those authorities
42:54 

42:54 will have their discretion
42:58 

42:58 then
43:01 

43:01 well you have the
43:04 

43:04 situation where for example
43:08 

43:08 offshore banking etc when it's done you
43:11 

43:11 will have a different
43:12 

43:12 regime here but the
43:16 

43:16 exact regulatory structure is not very
43:18 

43:18 clear
43:19 

43:19 so that will probably evolve later
43:22 

43:22 and for something as important as this i
43:24 

43:24 think i mean
43:25 

43:25 even if you look at i mean you talk
43:26 

43:26 about the instead of doing business and
43:29 

43:29 incentivizing investors and all of that
43:32 

43:32 and therefore we need to give all these
43:35 

43:35 tax exemptions
43:36 

43:36 and all of that but for this type of i
43:39 

43:39 mean that may be
43:40 

43:40 true when you know you had the
43:41 

43:41 government factory starting out and you
43:43 

43:43 have
43:44 

43:44 huge capital investments coming in it's
43:46 

43:46 a new area you're bringing technology
43:48 

43:48 all of that
43:49 

43:49 but here you have the state having
43:51 

43:51 developed infrastructure
43:53 

43:53 inviting people to come and invest and
43:56 

43:56 then you have to question from an
43:57 

43:57 economic
43:58 

43:58 point of view and i'm not an expert on
43:59 

43:59 that but from an economic point of view
44:02 

44:02 the tax exemptions etc are going to be
44:04 

44:04 the main thing which induces people to
44:06 

44:06 come in
44:07 

44:07 or whether it's the general climate of
44:10 

44:10 having democratic structures in place
44:12 

44:12 good dispute resolution models
44:14 

44:14 and the regulatory environment in
44:17 

44:17 general
44:19 

44:19 so i think there is an interlinkage
44:22 

44:22 between those and that
44:26 

44:26 seems to be a bit uh missing here
44:30 

44:30 right uh mr fernando in the in the
44:33 

44:33 interest
44:34 

44:34 in the interest of time can i ask you
44:35 

44:35 one one one final simple question
44:38 

44:38 uh now we've been talking about
44:40 

44:40 workarounds and
44:41 

44:41 the importance of a rules lose
44:43 

44:43 regulatory environment
44:45 

44:45 to protect investor interest and
44:46 

44:46 investor you know to bring in investors
44:49 

44:49 do you think the bill in its current
44:51 

44:51 format has created such an environment
44:53 

44:53 or uh or have you completely ignored
44:57 

44:57 the interests of our commercial interest
45:00 

45:00 in the interest of investors
45:05 

45:05 well as i said i think today when you
45:07 

45:07 look at
45:08 

45:08 what incentivizers investors to come in
45:11 

45:11 the type of investors that
45:12 

45:12 we should be wanting to come in it would
45:15 

45:15 be having
45:16 

45:16 good structures in place generally
45:19 

45:19 and the uh financial regulatory system
45:23 

45:23 and you know the regulatory
45:24 

45:24 environment in general
45:28 

45:28 now the access expanse is very vague on
45:31 

45:31 all of those
45:32 

45:32 and there is lots of areas where this
45:35 

45:35 commission
45:36 

45:36 will have to come up with its
45:37 

45:37 regulations so
45:41 

45:41 whether it's going to incentivize the
45:43 

45:43 correct type of
45:45 

45:45 investors to come in is a big question
45:47 

45:47 mark
45:48 

45:48 and on the other hand if you're talking
45:51 

45:51 about
45:51 

45:51 the fact that ease of doing business in
45:54 

45:54 sri lanka is hard
45:56 

45:56 because we don't have good regulatory
45:58 

45:58 structures in place
46:00 

46:00 uh generally and you know this that's
46:03 

46:03 why you need this uh
46:05 

46:05 you know one stop shop type of thing
46:09 

46:09 we should ask also the question whether
46:11 

46:11 we need to clean up our regulatory
46:13 

46:13 authorities
46:14 

46:14 in general so that the ease of going
46:16 

46:16 business in general
46:19 

46:19 is better for everybody
46:22 

46:22 mr fernando thank you for your thank you
46:24 

46:24 for your sentiments and and your points
46:26 

46:26 have been well noted
46:27 

46:27 thank you sir it was a pleasure having
46:29 

46:29 you uh
46:31 

46:31 ladies and gentlemen now uh we will be
46:34 

46:34 moving on to our next
46:36 

46:36 uh segment uh but before we do that
46:38 

46:38 let's let's go back
46:39 

46:39 to parliament and see what what's
46:41 

46:41 happening in parliament whether there is
46:42 

46:42 any drama that
46:43 

46:43 we could intervene in uh can we can we
46:47 

46:47 have the parliamentary session
46:48 

46:48 afterwards i'm sorry i have delivered
46:49 

46:49 that time
46:52 

46:52 oh wow
47:09 

47:09 foreign
47:37 

47:37 foreign
47:51 

47:51 foreign
48:19 

48:19 foreign
48:33 

48:33 constitutional commission members
48:36 

48:36 the commission shall consist of five
48:38 

48:38 members to be appointed by the president
48:41 

48:41 one of whom shall be appointed at the
48:44 

48:44 director general of the commission
48:47 

48:47 the section 4 the president may in his
48:52 

48:52 absolute discretion absolute discretion
48:54 

48:54 this is president
48:56 

48:56 absolute discretion and without signing
48:59 

48:59 any reason whatsoever
49:01 

49:01 they
49:29 

49:29 foreign
50:02 

50:02 a few important issues such as uh the
50:05 

50:05 supreme court ruling
50:06 

50:06 and uh you know how the port city will
50:09 

50:09 generate
50:10 

50:10 uh you know incomes and increase incomes
50:12 

50:12 is you know he's giving some important
50:14 

50:14 perspective but but ladies and gentlemen
50:16 

50:16 we have a we have a
50:18 

50:18 much more we have a very important uh uh
50:20 

50:20 business personality in sri lanka
50:22 

50:22 joining us
50:22 

50:22 uh and also we have dhananath who has
50:25 

50:25 joined us
50:26 

50:26 to further enhance our commentary uh
50:28 

50:28 diana would you like to
50:30 

50:30 introduce mr amir and then take the
50:32 

50:32 conversation forward
50:33 

50:33 yes uh we have this uh amar raj singh
50:38 

50:38 uh he's uh he's also the managing
50:41 

50:41 director of
50:41 

50:41 uh gamma and also we are joined with mr
50:44 

50:44 wino's hyderabadi
50:45 

50:45 he's also the managing director and the
50:47 

50:47 ceo of the hyderabadi group
50:49 

50:49 uh first of all thank you very much uh
50:51 

50:51 for joining uh mr amar and
50:52 

50:52 um i would first like to ask mr amar
50:56 

50:56 you have seen many other financial
50:58 

50:58 cities in dubai
50:60 

50:60 in other parts of the world if you as an
51:02 

51:02 investor
51:03 

51:03 if you were to invest in port city what
51:06 

51:06 would be the age that you would consider
51:08 

51:08 to have in port city
51:10 

51:10 rather than you haven't seen in other
51:12 

51:12 parts of the world
51:17 

51:17 well essentially what one would look for
51:20 

51:20 is uh firstly an
51:23 

51:23 environment which promotes uh growth and
51:26 

51:26 efficiency
51:27 

51:27 one of the things that we need to be
51:29 

51:29 careful about is ensure consistency
51:31 

51:31 in what we say and what we do
51:35 

51:35 we are making a lot of promises which we
51:37 

51:37 must keep
51:38 

51:38 so it the thing that we have to be
51:40 

51:40 careful about is that
51:42 

51:42 all facilities benefits which sound
51:45 

51:45 really great
51:46 

51:46 we need to make sure that we deliver on
51:48 

51:48 them
51:49 

51:49 because the best ambassadors of the port
51:52 

51:52 city are going to be the people who
51:54 

51:54 invest in them
51:55 

51:55 and the results they get out of that and
51:57 

51:57 the experience that they have
51:59 

51:59 so while we wish the project all the
52:01 

52:01 best we must make sure
52:03 

52:03 that all the promises that we make are
52:06 

52:06 actually kept so that
52:07 

52:07 those people who invest in projects of
52:09 

52:09 this nature go out and tell everyone
52:10 

52:10 what a great place this is to invest in
52:13 

52:13 and all the investment is not going to
52:14 

52:14 come at one go
52:16 

52:16 we're going to have a gradual inflow of
52:19 

52:19 investments people buying properties etc
52:21 

52:21 and putting up offices so the initial
52:23 

52:23 lot of people are the ones that are
52:25 

52:25 going to be the best advertisements
52:26 

52:26 going forward so that we have to be very
52:29 

52:29 careful about thank you thank you mr raj
52:33 

52:33 singh
52:34 

52:34 uh i would also like to ask the same
52:35 

52:35 question from mr
52:37 

52:37 vinod germany what what are the
52:40 

52:40 unique factors that you would consider
52:43 

52:43 if you were to
52:44 

52:44 make an investment at port city yeah
52:47 

52:47 thank you you know location wise uh as a
52:51 

52:51 gateway to south asia
52:53 

52:53 particularly for pakistan india
52:55 

52:55 bangladesh
52:56 

52:56 and nepal i think port city is uniquely
52:58 

52:58 located
52:60 

52:60 and to echo mr singh's comments
53:03 

53:03 you know subject to the supreme court
53:04 

53:04 rulings and the government agreeing
53:06 

53:06 certain
53:07 

53:07 you know parameters that they are
53:08 

53:08 maintained
53:10 

53:10 obviously existing uh investors in sri
53:12 

53:12 lanka would look at to portuguese
53:14 

53:14 additional opportunities
53:16 

53:16 and one of the things you know i'd
53:17 

53:17 really like to say is that you know
53:19 

53:19 the port city investors will also be
53:22 

53:22 potential investors in sri lanka and i
53:24 

53:24 think a lot of synergies going forward
53:26 

53:26 there's not going to be you know no
53:28 

53:28 manufacturing in port city and you know
53:30 

53:30 having
53:31 

53:31 kind of uh regional headquarters of big
53:34 

53:34 brands and multinationals
53:35 

53:35 in city will only benefit sri lanka
53:39 

53:39 going forward
53:41 

53:41 thanks thank you uh
53:46 

53:46 i think you've done enough uh now if i
53:48 

53:48 was you know we've been talking more
53:50 

53:50 about you know economic growth and how
53:52 

53:52 this is going to drive
53:53 

53:53 the economy and i think uh the the
53:55 

53:55 honorable minister of capital markets
53:57 

53:57 spoke extensively yesterday uh i would
53:59 

53:59 like to ask the business community
54:01 

54:01 especially both mr
54:02 

54:02 hyder money and uh and mr ahmed as to
54:05 

54:05 you know
54:06 

54:06 do you think this we can achieve you
54:08 

54:08 know by having this workaround can we
54:09 

54:09 achieve those
54:10 

54:10 uh you know eight seven eight you know
54:13 

54:13 levels of economic growth do you think
54:15 

54:15 this is going to be the driver that sri
54:16 

54:16 lanka needed
54:20 

54:20 as as vinod said rightly the question is
54:22 

54:22 this is not a
54:23 

54:23 project unto itself it is a it is a
54:27 

54:27 catalyst
54:28 

54:28 to other things happening and
54:32 

54:32 if it is able to achieve what it sets
54:35 

54:35 out to achieve
54:35 

54:35 as being a business and financial center
54:39 

54:39 and if the people's experiences are good
54:41 

54:41 it would be the best
54:42 

54:42 route to foreign direct investment in
54:44 

54:44 sri lanka which we definitely need
54:47 

54:47 to to get the economy back on on rails
54:49 

54:49 after
54:50 

54:50 the the suffering that is taking place
54:52 

54:52 on account of the pandemic
54:54 

54:54 so i think the uh what
54:57 

54:57 all that is being said is definitely
54:59 

54:59 achievable
55:00 

55:00 [Music]
55:02 

55:02 but but what we need to make sure is
55:05 

55:05 that the
55:06 

55:06 enabling environment is such that
55:09 

55:09 there is no uncertainty in the minds of
55:11 

55:11 people who come in to
55:12 

55:12 invest and their experiences of our
55:15 

55:15 experience
55:17 

55:17 if if their experiences of our
55:19 

55:19 experience nothing else is needed to be
55:21 

55:21 done
55:22 

55:22 uh automatically people will start to
55:24 

55:24 invest because we must be aware
55:27 

55:27 that at this point of time there's a lot
55:28 

55:28 of capital around the world looking for
55:30 

55:30 investments
55:32 

55:32 we are not in a shrinking world from
55:33 

55:33 that point of view
55:35 

55:35 because of the fact that the interest
55:36 

55:36 rates generally all over the all over
55:38 

55:38 the world are very
55:39 

55:39 low capital is looking for places where
55:41 

55:41 they can make
55:42 

55:42 a higher return and one such opportunity
55:45 

55:45 is
55:45 

55:45 the port and city and our real estate
55:49 

55:49 markets are doing excellently
55:50 

55:50 so what we need to be uh we need to
55:53 

55:53 capitalize on this
55:55 

55:55 and we need to make sure that the the
55:57 

55:57 investor experience is wow
55:59 

55:59 then there is no looking back we can
56:01 

56:01 achieve any amount of growth
56:03 

56:03 because the the setting of sri lanka
56:07 

56:07 is just right there for for the purposes
56:10 

56:10 of
56:11 

56:11 a good growth rate and and the
56:15 

56:15 and the uplifting of the standard living
56:17 

56:17 of the people and job opportunities etc
56:19 

56:19 once they come
56:20 

56:20 uh at good salaries at
56:23 

56:23 good wages then naturally the
56:27 

56:27 the temptation to go abroad and work
56:29 

56:29 will also reduce
56:31 

56:31 people will much rather be with their
56:33 

56:33 families and work here than go somewhere
56:35 

56:35 else
56:35 

56:35 and suffer all that they suffer when
56:37 

56:37 they go abroad so
56:38 

56:38 we will be able to retain a lot of our
56:40 

56:40 technical workforce
56:42 

56:42 within the country which is which is a a
56:45 

56:45 great thing that can happen
56:49 

56:49 and uh uh mr hyde i would like to
56:52 

56:52 put both of you on slightly off spot uh
56:55 

56:55 the the tax exemptions have been
56:58 

56:58 discussed as one of the main
56:59 

56:59 attractions for the business community i
57:02 

57:02 think as investors
57:03 

57:03 you as investors you have investments
57:05 

57:05 all over the world you have seen the
57:07 

57:07 seen the world and you have seen the
57:09 

57:09 other investments happening
57:10 

57:10 in other parts of the world do you
57:12 

57:12 consider tax exemptions
57:14 

57:14 as a as a key attraction for you
57:17 

57:17 or do you expect you spoke about the
57:20 

57:20 business environment and
57:21 

57:21 keeping our promises what what is more
57:25 

57:25 important for you
57:26 

57:26 if i may ask i i think
57:29 

57:29 uh stability and good governance uh i
57:32 

57:32 really think that
57:33 

57:33 uh you know whatever you know you know
57:35 

57:35 taxes you know we have
57:37 

57:37 the world now we'll have to pay for the
57:40 

57:40 post-covered world and i think
57:41 

57:41 taxes and and are part of that and we
57:43 

57:43 all have to do a part for that
57:45 

57:45 so from for i mean for me individually i
57:48 

57:48 think good governance and the parameters
57:50 

57:50 being clear
57:51 

57:51 and this is not a journey of five years
57:52 

57:52 this is a 10 20 year 30 year development
57:55 

57:55 project i remember taking a harvard
57:57 

57:57 professor there
57:58 

57:58 uh two years ago to port city and he's
58:01 

58:01 like you know this
58:02 

58:02 this is a 30-year horizon so uh to your
58:04 

58:04 earlier point about growth rates at
58:06 

58:06 seven eight percent yes we can achieve
58:08 

58:08 them but we won't achieve the next day
58:09 

58:09 it will take
58:10 

58:10 four or five years ten years to get that
58:12 

58:12 going and that needs uh you know
58:15 

58:15 policies that stay firm for that period
58:17 

58:17 of time
58:28 

58:28 i i think i think the tax rates of sri
58:31 

58:31 lanka are fine
58:32 

58:32 if you look around the world they are as
58:34 

58:34 reasonable as they can get
58:36 

58:36 and honestly if you ask me i have a very
58:37 

58:37 radical view on taxes
58:39 

58:39 corporates must pay taxes when you look
58:42 

58:42 at our tax to gdp ratio in sri lanka
58:44 

58:44 it's extremely low
58:45 

58:45 which shows that our corporations are
58:48 

58:48 not paying the taxes
58:50 

58:50 or they've got exemptions we need to
58:53 

58:53 we need to have much higher income from
58:55 

58:55 taxation than we have at the moment in
58:57 

58:57 the country
58:57 

58:57 for it is a significant source of
58:59 

58:59 revenue which then goes into development
59:02 

59:02 so all businesses must be prepared to
59:04 

59:04 pay 20 30
59:05 

59:05 20 25 percent tax and i think most
59:08 

59:08 business forecasters take that into
59:10 

59:10 account
59:11 

59:11 we we we should not push the government
59:15 

59:15 towards subsidizing growth
59:17 

59:17 growth should come as we say from from
59:20 

59:20 good infrastructure stability
59:22 

59:22 good governance those are the things
59:24 

59:24 that they should be investing in
59:26 

59:26 a prospering business does not mind
59:28 

59:28 paying taxes or should not mind paying
59:30 

59:30 taxes
59:30 

59:30 therefore one feels that we should not
59:34 

59:34 uh unnecessarily burden the government
59:38 

59:38 by asking for
59:39 

59:39 various stops a good
59:42 

59:42 a good business cannot survive on socks
59:46 

59:46 it has to survive on its own and and
59:49 

59:49 compete on its own so we we need to make
59:52 

59:52 sure
59:53 

59:53 that we have a regime where
59:57 

59:57 we are setting up people to succeed that
60:00 

60:00 is that is more important to consider
60:02 

60:02 than to just uh give give tax exemptions
60:05 

60:05 in my view
60:09 

60:09 i think i i know i i basically would
60:11 

60:11 like to you know flip the coin
60:13 

60:13 uh and and ask you know these two uh
60:16 

60:16 these two uh members of corporate sri
60:19 

60:19 lanka
60:19 

60:19 uh so what what do you think of you know
60:22 

60:22 the preferential treatment given to
60:23 

60:23 businesses in the port city
60:25 

60:25 now these are these are preferential
60:27 

60:27 treatment that you know
60:28 

60:28 our members in sri lanka wouldn't really
60:31 

60:31 benefit from
60:32 

60:32 uh is there an impact and as as members
60:34 

60:34 of corporate sri lanka are you affected
60:36 

60:36 by it
60:36 

60:36 and what's your outlook on this
60:41 

60:41 uh you know i i kind of think anyone
60:43 

60:43 coming into sri lanka is a benefit to
60:45 

60:45 the interport city is a benefit to sri
60:47 

60:47 lanka as a whole
60:49 

60:49 for example if we were to bring in uh
60:51 

60:51 you know make
60:52 

60:52 a multinational that make their regional
60:54 

60:54 headquarters in port
60:55 

60:55 city i think that only gives a benefit
60:58 

60:58 to sri lanka so i don't see it as a
60:60 

60:60 a preferential treatment i would see it
61:02 

61:02 as everything as a plus
61:03 

61:03 to sri lanka overall port city will be a
61:07 

61:07 selling point
61:08 

61:08 for sri lanka and it'll only benefit so
61:12 

61:12 from our perspective i think everything
61:13 

61:13 is a positive i'm very happy if
61:16 

61:16 people you know people coming to port
61:17 

61:17 city
61:19 

61:19 i just want to add to what i was saying
61:21 

61:21 the question here is that uh
61:24 

61:24 everywhere in the world you see that
61:26 

61:26 there are special export promotion zones
61:28 

61:28 being set up
61:29 

61:29 we all have we have export promotion
61:31 

61:31 zones in sri lanka
61:32 

61:32 which are fairly successful so this is
61:35 

61:35 this is a business
61:36 

61:36 promotion zone we set up something which
61:39 

61:39 which gives you
61:40 

61:40 all the facilities the benefits uh and
61:43 

61:43 and in a sense a degree of insulation
61:46 

61:46 that will that will work as an incubator
61:49 

61:49 in terms of encouraging businesses to
61:52 

61:52 come and work in a certain environment
61:53 

61:53 in which they're used to
61:55 

61:55 it gives comfort to everybody who comes
61:56 

61:56 in to say that this is the conditions
61:58 

61:58 over here just the same as they are
61:59 

61:59 anywhere else
62:01 

62:01 world-class facilities are available so
62:05 

62:05 this the the spillover effect or the
62:08 

62:08 economic effect of
62:10 

62:10 of of a a place like this
62:14 

62:14 is exponential so this is only a kind of
62:17 

62:17 a catalyst to greater develop
62:21 

62:21 i mean after all the people who work
62:23 

62:23 there with the hours they'll be managers
62:24 

62:24 getting jobs the workers getting jobs
62:26 

62:26 there'll be construction of course that
62:28 

62:28 will happen uh
62:29 

62:29 various types of development will take
62:31 

62:31 place infrastructure will come up
62:33 

62:33 hopefully you know food and beverage
62:35 

62:35 outlets like the ones that we
62:37 

62:37 we are involved in will come up so it's
62:40 

62:40 it's not that it stands out on its own
62:42 

62:42 it's just that there's certain
62:44 

62:44 facilities that they have
62:45 

62:45 which are which are meant to incubate
62:49 

62:49 and give a chance to a business to feel
62:53 

62:53 very comfortable to come in
62:55 

62:55 beyond that the spillover effect is huge
62:57 

62:57 i
62:58 

62:58 it could it could kick-start a situation
62:60 

63:00 where the demand for people
63:01 

63:01 managers workers could as i said lead to
63:05 

63:05 substantive employment
63:06 

63:06 and trickle down effect in the economy
63:13 

63:13 and also mr uh for joining us
63:17 

63:17 uh for this live commentary with the
63:19 

63:19 parliament debate
63:21 

63:21 and we are live on twitch as well as on
63:23 

63:23 facebook and thank you very much
63:25 

63:25 uh mr hyde and mr raj singh for joining
63:28 

63:28 with us
63:29 

63:29 and for our viewers please watch us you
63:30 

63:30 can join us through twitch.lk and also
63:33 

63:33 you can tweet
63:34 

63:34 uh and make sure to tag advocacy
63:39 

63:39 in your tweets so then others can also
63:41 

63:41 get these ideas and share these ideas
63:43 

63:43 remember what are your thoughts on the
63:44 

63:44 tax conditions basically the
63:46 

63:46 mr hyde money and the summer writing
63:49 

63:49 both were representing the business
63:51 

63:51 community
63:51 

63:51 and of course they have investments in
63:53 

63:53 other parts of the world
63:55 

63:55 so one key factor that they mentioned is
63:56 

63:56 they look for the political stability
63:58 

63:58 and the good governance
63:60 

63:60 instead of uh they they consider uh
64:03 

64:03 other other factors as well but they
64:05 

64:05 prefer those two factors
64:07 

64:07 what what are your thoughts considering
64:09 

64:09 the tax
64:10 

64:10 exemptions uh proposed by this bill but
64:13 

64:13 i apologize
64:15 

64:15 uh i think we as analysts have you know
64:18 

64:18 uh looked at it
64:19 

64:19 uh for some time and what we can say is
64:22 

64:22 that you know it is as
64:23 

64:23 as as these gentlemen have told us it is
64:26 

64:26 those
64:27 

64:27 things like political stability uh
64:29 

64:29 macroeconomic growth
64:31 

64:31 uh it's those it's those bigger
64:33 

64:33 instruments that drive investment
64:35 

64:35 and this is we see this in vietnam we
64:37 

64:37 see uh
64:38 

64:38 why investors invest in in most of those
64:41 

64:41 east asian countries
64:42 

64:42 so that or not what i can say is uh
64:46 

64:46 tax tax tax concessions don't really
64:48 

64:48 drive fbi and i think
64:49 

64:49 numerous reports have proven it so i i i
64:53 

64:53 question i get a question as to uh
64:56 

64:56 why are the economic commission bill uh
64:60 

64:60 you know looks at tax concessions as a
65:02 

65:02 leading factor
65:03 

65:03 when when the international story when
65:05 

65:05 the research points to something
65:07 

65:07 different
65:07 

65:07 and i think uh these uh these renowned
65:10 

65:10 members of corporate sri lanka have
65:13 

65:13 have been shrine that uh have enshrined
65:15 

65:15 their thought and i think it's it's
65:16 

65:16 important that uh the commission
65:18 

65:18 and and that the government you know
65:21 

65:21 uh looks at this in in more favorable
65:24 

65:24 light
65:25 

65:25 okay before we let go with samantha
65:27 

65:27 singing i would like to
65:29 

65:29 ask one final question that is we know
65:32 

65:32 since this is the time that uh the
65:34 

65:34 entire sri lanka has been talking about
65:36 

65:36 business investment we know even if you
65:39 

65:39 keep the post cd aside there are already
65:42 

65:42 a lot of
65:43 

65:43 regulatory barriers for businesses
65:44 

65:44 starting from the sri lanka customs
65:46 

65:46 from the land regulatory issues there
65:48 

65:48 have been so many
65:50 

65:50 other barriers for business world to
65:53 

65:53 perform
65:54 

65:54 uh if you were to make a request uh for
65:57 

65:57 the policy makers to focus on
65:58 

65:58 what would be your request mainly except
66:01 

66:01 leaving the port city aside anything
66:03 

66:03 else that you would like to focus and
66:05 

66:05 make this an opportunity
66:07 

66:07 uh to to request the policy makers to
66:10 

66:10 consider
66:11 

66:11 at this uh point uh given in time since
66:14 

66:14 we are in a discussion with port city
66:16 

66:16 and there's a
66:16 

66:16 higher chance that they will consider
66:18 

66:18 the entire business regulation
66:20 

66:20 and the president has appointed a
66:22 

66:22 commission uh for for deregulation
66:24 

66:24 hopefully we will be able to connect
66:26 

66:26 with the sports city and do a bigger
66:28 

66:28 business reform investor reform
66:30 

66:30 what would be our thoughts before we let
66:31 

66:31 go uh mr raj singh and
66:33 

66:33 we said germany
66:37 

66:37 uh you know for us uh in the export
66:40 

66:40 business
66:41 

66:41 we would just like you know a clear
66:43 

66:43 policy for the next five
66:44 

66:44 ten years that's consistent that allows
66:48 

66:48 us to plan our investments
66:50 

66:50 uh in sri lanka around the country uh
66:53 

66:53 you know with with the current situation
66:55 

66:55 there's a tremendous
66:56 

66:56 opportunity of of a growth uh in our
66:59 

66:59 industry
67:01 

67:01 uh many you know with many countries
67:02 

67:02 facing uh certain situations
67:05 

67:05 uh there's a situation with chinese
67:07 

67:07 cotton and chinese yarn
67:09 

67:09 that's bringing in a lot a lot of
67:10 

67:10 potential into sri lanka and we as
67:13 

67:13 entrepreneurs in sri lanka need a 5-10
67:16 

67:16 year clear policy horizon
67:18 

67:18 uh to allow us to to bring that business
67:20 

67:20 into sri lanka
67:21 

67:21 uh you know we're tremendously thankful
67:23 

67:23 for the edb and the boi and all
67:25 

67:25 all the authorities and helping us
67:27 

67:27 through these difficult times and now we
67:29 

67:29 have to think
67:30 

67:30 uh hopefully by the end of this year
67:31 

67:31 that we're out of the situation and now
67:33 

67:33 the next five ten years how can we grab
67:35 

67:35 uh you know the investment in business
67:37 

67:37 that that's that's headed
67:39 

67:39 to other countries and bring it back to
67:40 

67:40 sri lanka so we can all help the economy
67:42 

67:42 together
67:44 

67:44 thank you thank you very much
67:47 

67:47 for joining us thank you thank you so
67:48 

67:48 much for your time uh for joining us
67:50 

67:50 with this live commentary thank you very
67:52 

67:52 much
67:53 

67:53 i would like to ask the same question
67:55 

67:55 from mr amaraj singh what are your
67:57 

67:57 thoughts uh mr
67:58 

67:58 singh you know one of the things that i
68:00 

68:00 admire about sri lanka is the
68:02 

68:02 approachability of the bureaucracy and
68:06 

68:06 uh the the the ministerial uh
68:10 

68:10 groups i find that they are uh very
68:13 

68:13 approachable
68:14 

68:14 they are there uh and they are they they
68:17 

68:17 they listen and they i find that
68:20 

68:20 delightful actually
68:21 

68:21 uh considering other parts of the world
68:24 

68:24 and one thing that i have suggested
68:26 

68:26 before and i suggest again
68:28 

68:28 is that perhaps we can have a single
68:30 

68:30 point uh
68:32 

68:32 approach uh in the government where
68:35 

68:35 all related issues that people have with
68:37 

68:37 processes and regulatory matters
68:40 

68:40 are brought to the attention of various
68:43 

68:43 ministries
68:44 

68:44 through a single point program a single
68:46 

68:46 point where you go and you
68:48 

68:48 talk to the person concerned who's
68:49 

68:49 senior enough to understand what you're
68:51 

68:51 talking about
68:52 

68:52 and that person is able to navigate
68:54 

68:54 through the various ministries
68:55 

68:55 and regulatory bodies to make sure that
68:58 

68:58 the kind of problem that one is having
69:01 

69:01 is resolved and i may say that i would
69:04 

69:04 compliment the government that in the
69:06 

69:06 past
69:06 

69:06 whenever we have gone to them with the
69:08 

69:08 problem of any nature
69:10 

69:10 by and large these issues have been
69:11 

69:11 resolved and the greatest thing is that
69:14 

69:14 they are so approachable and
69:18 

69:18 as i said if we appoint a single point a
69:20 

69:20 person
69:21 

69:21 in the government that will resolve the
69:23 

69:23 business related issues across various
69:24 

69:24 ministries
69:25 

69:25 and forums i think and a person of
69:29 

69:29 seniority
69:30 

69:30 uh that would be a big help
69:34 

69:34 so that we don't have to go to various
69:36 

69:36 places to resolve various issues
69:37 

69:37 every economy has issues every
69:40 

69:40 every business environment has issues we
69:43 

69:43 can't expect to operate in a scenario
69:45 

69:45 where we are living in ether or an
69:46 

69:46 oxygen
69:48 

69:48 we have to deal with these things at the
69:50 

69:50 grassroots level so we should have
69:52 

69:52 a an agency or someone who can resolve
69:54 

69:54 problems
69:55 

69:55 as a as a single point approach point uh
70:01 

70:01 structure uh
70:03 

70:03 thank you mr ahmed and and thank you mr
70:05 

70:05 vinod uh
70:06 

70:06 i think you're you're positive you've
70:08 

70:08 looked at this in in you know very
70:10 

70:10 positive light
70:11 

70:11 and i think this positivity is
70:13 

70:13 infectious and i really hope
70:15 

70:15 uh that we that we achieve those
70:17 

70:17 standards
70:18 

70:18 and reach uh and make the port city one
70:21 

70:21 of those
70:21 

70:21 leading economic uh hubs in the whole of
70:24 

70:24 asia
70:24 

70:24 and the whole and and probably globally
70:27 

70:27 so it was a pleasure
70:28 

70:28 uh speaking to you sir thank you uh and
70:30 

70:30 also to mr vinod
70:31 

70:31 it was an absolute pleasure uh
70:33 

70:33 connecting with you
70:35 

70:35 thank you uh now ladies and gentlemen uh
70:38 

70:38 we have another very interesting
70:40 

70:40 uh lineup arranged uh but i think we
70:43 

70:43 should donate do you think we should go
70:44 

70:44 back and see what's happening uh
70:46 

70:46 but back to you you know look at that i
70:49 

70:49 i would love
70:50 

70:50 vimanda but i think we have two eminent
70:52 

70:52 uh experts
70:53 

70:53 who are already joining to share about
70:56 

70:56 share their views about the geopolitics
70:58 

70:58 which is one of the main
70:59 

70:59 things that we have been discussed over
71:01 

71:01 this fourth city bill
71:03 

71:03 whether this is like a trap or whether
71:05 

71:05 this is uh whether there's a
71:07 

71:07 vaccine diplomacy or uh or a diplomacy
71:10 

71:10 there's been so many terms
71:11 

71:11 have been in discussion so i think we
71:13 

71:13 have got two embryonic experts dr dan
71:17 

71:17 and dr ganesha uh
71:21 

71:21 both are with us to provide their
71:23 

71:23 expertise
71:24 

71:24 on this issue and you are
71:36 

71:36 [Music]
71:40 

71:40 on questioning them on the geopolitics
71:42 

71:42 thank you
71:43 

71:43 i think oh we'll be let's you know hit
71:45 

71:45 let's let's get on to the spot and let's
71:47 

71:47 start the discussion uh
71:48 

71:48 once again uh dr uh dr garnishin
71:52 

71:52 and and and uh dr dan
71:55 

71:55 it's you know we will uh it's a pleasure
71:57 

71:57 connecting with you
71:58 

71:58 and uh let me get uh you know
72:02 

72:02 let me let me start with the direct
72:05 

72:05 question
72:06 

72:06 uh is the port city uh a chinese trap
72:12 

72:12 who are you directing the quest to oh
72:14 

72:14 both of you sir and
72:16 

72:16 let's start with you well
72:19 

72:19 uh i i don't think it's a trap that the
72:22 

72:22 chinese set for us
72:24 

72:24 but i do think that in the manner in
72:27 

72:27 which it is currently configured
72:29 

72:29 and given the timing that we are falling
72:32 

72:32 into a trap
72:33 

72:33 of our own making seen this happen
72:36 

72:36 before
72:38 

72:38 um we we had much much better economic
72:41 

72:41 prospects
72:43 

72:43 in 1977 78 uh when
72:46 

72:46 president or other mr javed took over
72:49 

72:49 and then became
72:50 

72:50 the president in 1978 we had an 80
72:54 

72:54 growth rate initially but
72:57 

72:57 uh within years by the time the second
72:60 

72:60 term
73:01 

73:01 came around uh this place has become uh
73:05 

73:05 a hellhole as it burns the point i want
73:09 

73:09 to drive for
73:11 

73:11 is that however good your economic
73:13 

73:13 prospects
73:14 

73:14 or your intentions or your plans
73:17 

73:17 unless you get three things right
73:21 

73:21 three fundamentals right uh
73:24 

73:24 the economy will go into
73:28 

73:28 a down string a downward spiral and
73:31 

73:31 crash
73:32 

73:32 it happened to us we got off to a very
73:34 

73:34 good start in 7778 and the three
73:36 

73:36 mistakes
73:38 

73:38 one was the economic model there was
73:40 

73:40 growth but
73:41 

73:41 not enough equity i think ganeshan's
73:44 

73:44 father
73:45 

73:45 was one of those who pointed that out
73:48 

73:48 at that time the second is the
73:51 

73:51 mismanagement
73:52 

73:52 of ethnic relations
73:55 

73:55 and the third which is most pertinent to
73:58 

73:58 us today
73:59 

73:59 is the growth and grotesque
74:01 

74:01 mismanagement
74:03 

74:03 of our international relations at that
74:06 

74:06 time
74:07 

74:07 we swung far too far
74:11 

74:11 in one direction
74:14 

74:14 i had to pay the price for that by
74:17 

74:17 overcompensating
74:18 

74:18 and the overcompensation that is the
74:20 

74:20 swing from the us and israel to
74:23 

74:23 india generated a rebellion
74:27 

74:27 a xenophobic rebellion in the south and
74:30 

74:30 then you know
74:31 

74:31 it it all it all went to pieces until
74:34 

74:34 uh well president brahmadasa won and
74:37 

74:37 then the economy started picking up
74:38 

74:38 again and so on so that's another story
74:41 

74:41 but here we are making the same
74:44 

74:44 mistakes over and over again this time
74:48 

74:48 the economic model is wrong because you
74:51 

74:51 have a
74:52 

74:52 bipolar schizophrenic situation where
74:55 

74:55 you have a
74:56 

74:56 a wide open economy plan for the port
74:59 

74:59 city
74:60 

74:60 while you're closing up the economy in
75:03 

75:03 the rest of the island with these
75:04 

75:04 ridiculous
75:05 

75:05 important banks so that the two parts of
75:08 

75:08 this
75:09 

75:09 just don't think they're they're kind of
75:11 

75:11 irrational completely right
75:14 

75:14 so there's increasing privatization uh
75:17 

75:17 declining productivity and so on uh in
75:20 

75:20 in the
75:20 

75:20 uh in the side in the island
75:23 

75:23 uh the present economy and then
75:27 

75:27 you have this schizophrenic situation
75:29 

75:29 where today in parliament you're talking
75:31 

75:31 about
75:31 

75:31 uh 1978 in the greater colombo economic
75:34 

75:34 commission and
75:35 

75:35 it's two separate planets uh in
75:38 

75:38 on one island and a bit of an outdoor
75:41 

75:41 sort of artificial island so that's
75:44 

75:44 we've got that wrong
75:46 

75:46 the ethnic equation is extremely bad
75:49 

75:49 it's probably the worst i have
75:51 

75:51 seen since 1984 since the
75:55 

75:55 ruling elite of that day finally
75:58 

75:58 understood
75:59 

75:59 that you need provincial autonomy and
76:01 

76:01 now that's being questioned
76:03 

76:03 by the government of the day certainly
76:05 

76:05 by the regime you've got
76:07 

76:07 the cabinet and the third thing is our
76:10 

76:10 external relations
76:12 

76:12 we we whenever the pendulum
76:15 

76:15 swings to find one direction it swings
76:19 

76:19 back
76:20 

76:20 with even greater amplitude in another
76:22 

76:22 direction
76:23 

76:23 and the crisis exacerbates
76:26 

76:26 and it turns into conflict there have
76:29 

76:29 been times in sri lanka's
76:30 

76:30 history where long periods where
76:34 

76:34 on a bipartisan basis as it were we have
76:37 

76:37 handled our international relations with
76:39 

76:39 a sense of balance
76:40 

76:40 and dexterity and steadiness this is not
76:44 

76:44 one of those times
76:45 

76:45 nor was the previous administration um
76:49 

76:49 of 2015. so that administration spun
76:53 

76:53 two five one direction shut down the
76:55 

76:55 chinese projects
76:57 

76:57 and then sort of went traveling back to
76:59 

76:59 the chinese
77:00 

77:00 when they realized that they couldn't
77:01 

77:01 pay the bills uh and gave the chinese a
77:04 

77:04 much bigger footprint than even maharaja
77:06 

77:06 pakistan given them to start with
77:08 

77:08 now this administration is going
77:12 

77:12 too far in in the direction of china
77:16 

77:16 it has done something that no previous
77:18 

77:18 government however close to the chinese
77:20 

77:20 like
77:20 

77:20 madame was very close to premier german
77:23 

77:23 lie
77:24 

77:24 but it is it's doing something that no
77:27 

77:27 previous sri lankan government ever did
77:29 

77:29 that is our president president
77:30 

77:30 gutabiraji pakistan has twice
77:32 

77:32 said uh officially and this has been
77:35 

77:35 quoted by the chinese embassy
77:37 

77:37 that he would like to learn historical
77:39 

77:39 presidential thing
77:40 

77:40 that he would like to learn from that's
77:42 

77:42 the first usage the second usage was
77:44 

77:44 like to learn the governance experience
77:47 

77:47 of the communist party of china now no
77:50 

77:50 sri lankan leader who only had
77:52 

77:52 the leaders has ever done that before so
77:54 

77:54 we've gone
77:55 

77:55 far too far uh i mean multi
77:57 

77:57 multi-dimensional sensors
77:59 

77:59 with the chinese at a time where there's
78:02 

78:02 uh an intensifying global competition
78:05 

78:05 between the united states and china
78:07 

78:07 running through the indian ocean and the
78:10 

78:10 pacific
78:10 

78:10 region and there is also a regional
78:14 

78:14 uh rivalry of all the duration between
78:17 

78:17 india our only real neighbor and china
78:21 

78:21 this is absolutely the wrong time to do
78:24 

78:24 that
78:25 

78:25 and when you enhance the chinese
78:28 

78:28 footprint
78:29 

78:29 with the port city project in the manner
78:32 

78:32 it is now
78:33 

78:33 structured then you're really painting a
78:36 

78:36 very large
78:37 

78:37 target on your back so you have a
78:40 

78:40 lopsided
78:42 

78:42 geopolitical profile you have a lopsided
78:45 

78:45 or
78:46 

78:46 frankly as i said bipolar disorder in
78:49 

78:49 your economic your macroeconomic policy
78:52 

78:52 and you have uh zero political dialogue
78:57 

78:57 with uh the time of representatives of
78:59 

78:59 the northern east and you also
79:02 

79:02 messed up your relationship with the
79:03 

79:03 muslims so
79:05 

79:05 the combination of these three all of
79:07 

79:07 which
79:08 

79:08 are symptoms of ideological extremism
79:13 

79:13 can not cannot provide
79:17 

79:17 a sustainable economic growth
79:20 

79:20 or develop at all thank you sir
79:24 

79:24 uh dr carnation would you would you uh
79:26 

79:26 like to jump in here and
79:27 

79:27 and and give us your opinion and your
79:29 

79:29 analysis
79:32 

79:32 thank you uh it's a real pleasure to be
79:34 

79:34 here and
79:35 

79:35 always lovely to hear diane uh giving a
79:38 

79:38 really interesting kind of take
79:40 

79:40 um look the story in a nutshell
79:43 

79:43 is are we in a chinese trap
79:46 

79:46 it's like this when you start looking at
79:48 

79:48 the data on foreign investment you start
79:51 

79:51 getting a very interesting picture
79:52 

79:52 uh so china is now the leading esta in
79:55 

79:55 sri lanka when you look at the debt
79:56 

79:56 stock of 2020
79:58 

79:58 china accounts for some 16 percent of
79:60 

79:60 that debt stock
80:01 

80:01 but india is some 13 uh the netherlands
80:04 

80:04 is 11 um singapore is 10
80:08 

80:08 and malaysia is about 8 percent so that
80:10 

80:10 that's where
80:11 

80:11 you know potentially uh the people may
80:13 

80:13 come from
80:14 

80:14 uh into this port city now of course
80:18 

80:18 this data i'm talking about is mostly
80:19 

80:19 about manufacturing
80:21 

80:21 and some infrastructure the port city is
80:22 

80:22 something different it's a
80:24 

80:24 multi-sectoral kind of leisure financial
80:27 

80:27 i.t
80:28 

80:28 and professional services hub now
80:31 

80:31 whether it can do
80:32 

80:32 all of that uh one needs to have certain
80:35 

80:35 conditions in place
80:37 

80:37 for for this to kind of happen but some
80:40 

80:40 sort of numbers that
80:41 

80:41 we have been working on um are quite
80:44 

80:44 revealing as to what potential could
80:46 

80:46 occur from this
80:47 

80:47 port city for sri lanka and it could
80:49 

80:49 really be a kind of a game changer
80:52 

80:52 at one level it could uh potentially be
80:55 

80:55 a sort of a pathway for sri lanka to be
80:57 

80:57 a kind of a dubai
80:59 

80:59 in south asia um now remember dubai's
81:02 

81:02 per capita income is some 40 000 us
81:04 

81:04 dollars
81:05 

81:05 and sri lanka you know is struggling at
81:07 

81:07 some under 4 000 us dollars per head so
81:10 

81:10 that is
81:10 

81:10 what the port city could be and the game
81:12 

81:12 changer is in services
81:14 

81:14 sector development taking sri lanka to
81:16 

81:16 modern services
81:18 

81:18 some numbers i think are quite
81:20 

81:20 interesting uh based on some cases we've
81:23 

81:23 been working on so
81:24 

81:24 if you do some simulation for instance
81:26 

81:26 the kind of foreign investment that
81:28 

81:28 could come
81:28 

81:28 under certain conditions um under a low
81:32 

81:32 case scenario it could add
81:33 

81:33 some 11 percent to sri lanka's fdi stock
81:37 

81:37 under a high scenario you could add some
81:39 

81:39 35
81:41 

81:41 and what that could mean is um
81:44 

81:44 an economy uh you know three percent
81:47 

81:47 larger than it is today
81:49 

81:49 uh in terms of gdp under a low case
81:51 

81:51 scenario
81:52 

81:52 or something as much as 10 percent
81:55 

81:55 larger than what it is because fdi is a
81:57 

81:57 particularly transformative process
81:59 

81:59 um now all of this is not going to
82:02 

82:02 happen overnight i mean as diane kind of
82:04 

82:04 hinted at i mean there are many
82:05 

82:05 issues that we are facing uh in the
82:09 

82:09 port city coming on stream and being a
82:11 

82:11 game changer for sri lanka
82:13 

82:13 in the future um and there are two kinds
82:15 

82:15 of broad conditions i mean one is what
82:17 

82:17 kind of regulatory
82:19 

82:19 uh kind of legal framework do we want
82:21 

82:21 for it
82:22 

82:22 um and the second really concerns what
82:24 

82:24 kind of national policies do we want
82:26 

82:26 uh for the country to make it attractive
82:28 

82:28 as a destination for investment
82:30 

82:30 not just by the way for foreign
82:31 

82:31 investment although that's important but
82:32 

82:32 also local investment
82:34 

82:34 and small and medium enterprises to join
82:36 

82:36 now the kind of conditions that we need
82:38 

82:38 i mean we need to take a hard look at
82:40 

82:40 the tax regime that we might give in
82:42 

82:42 this
82:43 

82:43 some kinds of incentives may be needed
82:46 

82:46 because of sri lanka's overall
82:48 

82:48 investment attractiveness or not
82:50 

82:50 but maybe you know long tax holidays 10
82:53 

82:53 years 20 years those things are perhaps
82:56 

82:56 beyond us today and very few countries
82:57 

82:57 are kind of doing that
82:59 

82:59 um we need most importantly a very good
83:01 

83:01 arbitration framework
83:03 

83:03 uh so that commercial disputes can be
83:05 

83:05 solved uh in this port city in a
83:08 

83:08 proper manner because the kind of
83:10 

83:10 anybody who's going to be into the court
83:11 

83:11 system in this country knows how long it
83:13 

83:13 can take
83:14 

83:14 to get sort of commercial disputes
83:15 

83:15 sorted so we need a proper arbitration
83:17 

83:17 system
83:18 

83:18 we need very strong anti-money
83:19 

83:19 laundering rules
83:21 

83:21 we need a very kind of open labor market
83:23 

83:23 that will
83:24 

83:24 enable the best global and regional
83:26 

83:26 talent to come but also sri lankan
83:27 

83:27 talent to come in there and i
83:29 

83:29 worry a little bit about the skill base
83:31 

83:31 that we may have in sri lanka
83:32 

83:32 to create the kind of workers we need to
83:34 

83:34 bring into the port city
83:35 

83:35 um and then we need to ensure we kind of
83:38 

83:38 have a market-oriented economy
83:40 

83:40 um and as directly into that you know we
83:42 

83:42 need to make sure we have a neutral
83:43 

83:43 foreign policy we shouldn't be tilting
83:45 

83:45 to one part or another
83:46 

83:46 um and the last point is again
83:50 

83:50 an important point and kind of mentioned
83:51 

83:51 we need to make sure that we have
83:52 

83:52 political and social stability
83:54 

83:54 now if we get all of these right um
83:57 

83:57 which is by the way a long-term process
83:59 

83:59 and it's going to take a lot longer than
84:00 

84:00 people say now port city is not
84:02 

84:02 something that can happen tomorrow it's
84:03 

84:03 going to
84:04 

84:04 take us 10 15 20 years to really make it
84:07 

84:07 something viable um we may have a
84:10 

84:10 sporting chance of making sri lanka
84:12 

84:12 successful
84:13 

84:13 and hopefully it will attract global
84:15 

84:15 investment
84:17 

84:17 chinese investment will be there
84:18 

84:18 although their primary manufacturing
84:20 

84:20 they're not so into services but they
84:21 

84:21 will come of course
84:23 

84:23 but indian investment u.s european
84:27 

84:27 southeast asia and so on so i think if
84:29 

84:29 we do it right it could be a
84:31 

84:31 potential game changer but it will take
84:32 

84:32 time
84:39 

84:39 because of your expert thank you dr
84:42 

84:42 ganeshan i would like to start my next
84:44 

84:44 question
84:44 

84:44 uh with you uh especially because of
84:47 

84:47 your
84:48 

84:48 because of your expertise in economics
84:50 

84:50 uh sir we heard the minister of capital
84:52 

84:52 markets uh
84:53 

84:53 uh yesterday and also the minister of
84:55 

84:55 foreign affairs today
84:56 

84:56 uh speak about uh the economic benefits
84:60 

84:60 of aligning with china
85:01 

85:01 and and and and how it can be a driver
85:04 

85:04 of
85:04 

85:04 growth uh so is is there any reality to
85:08 

85:08 this
85:08 

85:08 and also in your assessment of the port
85:10 

85:10 city bill uh
85:12 

85:12 what you know can it will it attract
85:15 

85:15 uh investment uh and you know does it
85:18 

85:18 have a visibility attract
85:19 

85:19 china-centric investment uh so what's
85:22 

85:22 your reading on this
85:24 

85:24 so aligning with china is something
85:29 

85:29 partly that makes sense but i don't
85:30 

85:30 think we should just align only with
85:32 

85:32 china
85:32 

85:32 but the reasoning behind this china
85:35 

85:35 alignment is because
85:36 

85:36 in terms of the recovery that we are
85:38 

85:38 seeing across asia china is emerging as
85:41 

85:41 one of the fastest growing countries in
85:43 

85:43 the region
85:44 

85:44 and you know that means it will also be
85:47 

85:47 an important source of outward
85:48 

85:48 investment and of capital
85:50 

85:50 um and when you look at you know china's
85:52 

85:52 presence in sri lanka
85:54 

85:54 china is is is there in in some key
85:57 

85:57 areas it's very much there in the
85:59 

85:59 infrastructure space
86:00 

86:00 providing commercial loans at fairly
86:03 

86:03 high interest rates on average
86:06 

86:06 and there is some risk of debt issues uh
86:09 

86:09 partly linked to that but it's not pure
86:10 

86:10 china debt of course is a
86:12 

86:12 debt issue um but uh china is very
86:15 

86:15 present in the infrastructure space
86:17 

86:17 um where we have problems with china is
86:20 

86:20 we have massive trade deficit uh we
86:22 

86:22 export very little to china some two
86:24 

86:24 three hundred million dollars
86:25 

86:25 whereas we import a lot and some of this
86:27 

86:27 is for these infrastructure projects
86:30 

86:30 and by the way these infrastructure
86:31 

86:31 projects don't have that many linkages
86:32 

86:32 with the rest of the economy
86:34 

86:34 um and uh we also need to make sure that
86:37 

86:37 uh we can attract a broader sphere of
86:41 

86:41 investment and trade with the world
86:43 

86:43 um so so i think there is merit in um
86:46 

86:46 looking at china but as one engine
86:48 

86:48 because of its rising status in the
86:50 

86:50 world
86:51 

86:51 but i think we should really try to play
86:53 

86:53 a very neutral
86:54 

86:54 uh hub role so we can attract investment
86:56 

86:56 from india the u.s
86:59 

86:59 southeast asia europe and elsewhere
87:02 

87:02 and we we we then can prosper properly
87:07 

87:07 okay thank you uh doctor victor raja
87:09 

87:09 before we move on to dr
87:11 

87:11 let's quickly uh switch to uh our
87:14 

87:14 parliamentary sessions
87:15 

87:15 uh horrible partners
87:19 

87:19 [Music]
87:45 

87:45 foreign
88:27 

88:27 foreign
89:09 

89:09 foreign
89:26 

89:26 uh again on the discussion on the
89:28 

89:28 commentary
89:29 

89:29 after just switching back to the
89:30 

89:30 parliamentary premises to
89:32 

89:32 just to capture what vulnerable partner
89:34 

89:34 champion
89:35 

89:35 was mentioning in his speech remember
89:37 

89:37 let's uh throw the next questions to dr
89:39 

89:39 that
89:41 

89:41 and move on we have a wonderful lineup
89:44 

89:44 of
89:44 

89:44 experts today uh so let's again join
89:47 

89:47 back with dr dan
89:48 

89:48 uh thank you uh dr dan i i've
89:52 

89:52 i've uh i mean i'm not trying to put you
89:53 

89:53 on the spot but uh
89:55 

89:55 this whatever now what we do know is
89:58 

89:58 uh the chinese envoy in sri lanka he's
90:00 

90:00 you know he's made a statement saying
90:02 

90:02 that
90:02 

90:02 uh both the portuguese you know could be
90:05 

90:05 the twin engines of growth for sri lanka
90:07 

90:07 in contrast we heard uh uh madame eliana
90:11 

90:11 be triplets
90:11 

90:11 of ambassador of the united states of
90:13 

90:13 america saying that you know the
90:14 

90:14 portunity can be a money laundering hub
90:17 

90:17 uh so who's speaking the truth and
90:20 

90:20 uh where are we going to draw the the
90:22 

90:22 line the parallel and
90:24 

90:24 uh balance these contrasting interests
90:28 

90:28 well one thing uh my father
90:31 

90:31 uh who was a veteran journalist and
90:33 

90:33 editor taught me
90:35 

90:35 is that the truth is uh usually
90:37 

90:37 somewhere in between
90:39 

90:39 so i i'm sure they're both telling the
90:42 

90:42 truth
90:42 

90:42 but to the comp to understand the
90:44 

90:44 composite truth
90:46 

90:46 um you're going to have to uh
90:52 

90:52 figure out what's in between now
90:57 

90:57 if you look at the experiences of latin
90:60 

91:00 america
91:02 

91:02 it's perfectly possible in fact feasible
91:05 

91:05 that there will be the safe haven
91:09 

91:09 phenomenon uh over and above
91:13 

91:13 but simply security of uh
91:17 

91:17 banking or or of your of your money
91:21 

91:21 so that's a serious problem and even if
91:23 

91:23 it's
91:24 

91:24 not true if the ambassador of the united
91:27 

91:27 states of america
91:29 

91:29 thinks so well that means america thinks
91:32 

91:32 so
91:33 

91:33 that doesn't necessarily mean that we
91:35 

91:35 have to accept it as true
91:36 

91:36 but we have to accept the fact that the
91:38 

91:38 united states
91:40 

91:40 has such a perception and that's
91:43 

91:43 important
91:45 

91:45 because we're talking about the big boys
91:49 

91:49 china the united states
91:52 

91:52 india japan and
91:56 

91:56 their perceptions even though there may
91:58 

91:58 be misperceptions
92:00 

92:00 have an impact on us because they act
92:03 

92:03 on those perceptions now
92:07 

92:07 under the best of circumstances yes both
92:10 

92:10 support city
92:11 

92:11 and could be
92:15 

92:15 growth but i've heard all of this before
92:17 

92:17 when you're holding up
92:19 

92:19 i mean when you're as old as i am you've
92:21 

92:21 heard most of these things because
92:22 

92:22 you've been around the block
92:23 

92:23 many times at the time was when we were
92:26 

92:26 going to be the next singapore
92:28 

92:28 and it's not leak one who said it
92:30 

92:30 because you
92:32 

92:32 kept saying what makes us
92:35 

92:35 what we are that's what makes singapore
92:38 

92:38 what we are is that
92:39 

92:39 we didn't make the mistakes that salon
92:41 

92:41 did
92:43 

92:43 and we retained english as
92:46 

92:46 the official language we didn't allow
92:49 

92:49 chinese to be the sole
92:51 

92:51 national language etc etc we took care
92:55 

92:55 of the underpinnings of our fundamental
92:57 

92:57 social contract
92:58 

92:58 and he's written extensively on ceylon
93:02 

93:02 sri lanka and here is the man who's the
93:04 

93:04 architect of the singapore miracle
93:07 

93:07 saying this about sri lanka and no sri
93:10 

93:10 lankan leaders certainly not
93:12 

93:12 the present one takes it seriously
93:14 

93:14 instead they keep saying
93:16 

93:16 will be another japan i heard this
93:17 

93:17 before as i said in 1978
93:21 

93:21 so that's not what happened to us
93:24 

93:24 similarly if you get your external
93:28 

93:28 relationships
93:29 

93:29 wrong and very wrong at a time that is
93:33 

93:33 not
93:33 

93:33 a classic period in world history but
93:36 

93:36 one of
93:37 

93:37 intensifying competition with a
93:40 

93:40 strong military edge between
93:44 

93:44 the united states and china forward
93:47 

93:47 leadership
93:49 

93:49 and if your position as we are
93:54 

93:54 in the indian ocean and now the larger
93:56 

93:56 renamed indo-pacific region
93:60 

93:60 then we are perceived as a strategically
94:03 

94:03 important location
94:06 

94:06 that doesn't mean everybody wants to
94:07 

94:07 grab us but it does mean
94:10 

94:10 that at the very least everybody wants
94:13 

94:13 to prevent
94:13 

94:13 the other guy from grabbing us and if
94:16 

94:16 there is a perception and there will be
94:18 

94:18 a perception there is a growing
94:19 

94:19 perception
94:20 

94:20 that we have tilted heavily towards
94:22 

94:22 china that we are aligned
94:23 

94:23 with china and this is much more the
94:25 

94:25 fault of our leadership than of china's
94:28 

94:28 um then
94:31 

94:31 there will be counter measures
94:35 

94:35 not because anybody has something
94:36 

94:36 against us or sri lanka
94:39 

94:39 but because they are trying to safeguard
94:41 

94:41 their own interests
94:42 

94:42 and prevent their rivals and competitors
94:44 

94:44 from getting an advantage now
94:46 

94:46 we cannot ignore the fact
94:50 

94:50 that before this uh splendid uh port
94:52 

94:52 city
94:54 

94:54 uh bill was brought to parliament we had
94:57 

94:57 a fairly long visit
95:00 

95:00 uh by the chinese nation of defense was
95:03 

95:03 accompanied by
95:04 

95:04 two other very important uh generals
95:07 

95:07 now i'm not saying the two things are
95:09 

95:09 connected but certainly if you're
95:10 

95:10 looking at it from washington or delhi
95:12 

95:12 much closer or tokyo
95:15 

95:15 you are going to see
95:18 

95:18 the chinese behavior to sri lanka as
95:21 

95:21 part of
95:22 

95:22 china's strategy in south asia which is
95:26 

95:26 part of china's global structure
95:29 

95:29 something happening in bhutan many of us
95:31 

95:31 don't know about it i don't want to
95:33 

95:33 attribute blame to anyone but there
95:36 

95:36 seems to be a significant
95:41 

95:41 burst of construction by china
95:45 

95:45 in bhutan so as i said if you're seated
95:48 

95:48 in washington
95:50 

95:50 you're going to see what's happening in
95:51 

95:51 sri lanka
95:53 

95:53 through the frame of what's happening in
95:55 

95:55 south asia and what china's
95:57 

95:57 possible strategy is in south asia
96:01 

96:01 and view that again as part of china's
96:04 

96:04 global strategy
96:05 

96:05 i think we've made a big mistake
96:08 

96:08 by not taking those things into account
96:11 

96:11 we could have
96:12 

96:12 we could have now if the americans
96:15 

96:15 and the person of the american
96:17 

96:17 ambassador said these things about
96:18 

96:18 fourth city why didn't we
96:23 

96:23 have will sit down with the
96:27 

96:27 stakeholders that is the united states
96:30 

96:30 uh the quad the chinese not all together
96:33 

96:33 but our leadership should have had
96:37 

96:37 discussions
96:38 

96:38 with each of these players and said look
96:42 

96:42 this is what we hope to do with the port
96:43 

96:43 city we understand that you have some
96:45 

96:45 apprehensions
96:46 

96:46 what are they and could we do anything
96:49 

96:49 about it
96:49 

96:49 could we reshape this could be reset it
96:52 

96:52 could be reconfigured
96:54 

96:54 so that your threat perceptions are
96:57 

96:57 lowered
96:58 

96:58 rather than raised but we didn't do that
97:00 

97:00 what i've been hearing in parliament
97:02 

97:02 today
97:03 

97:03 is again sort of strange there's
97:07 

97:07 one part of the discourse uh
97:10 

97:10 that takes place in a vacuum you know
97:13 

97:13 it's a
97:15 

97:15 fairy tale and there's no mention at all
97:19 

97:19 of the geopolitics of our existence
97:23 

97:23 and and the period of history that we
97:24 

97:24 are going through with this
97:26 

97:26 intense uh international competition
97:28 

97:28 between the great powers
97:30 

97:30 uh there's no mention of india and
97:31 

97:31 that's one side of the this course
97:33 

97:33 and then there's the other because uh
97:36 

97:36 it's not subterranean it's just
97:38 

97:38 two layers or two levels uh at the other
97:40 

97:40 level
97:41 

97:41 of today's discussion in ongoing debate
97:43 

97:43 in parliament
97:45 

97:45 china keeps popping up so does the
97:47 

97:47 united states you had
97:49 

97:49 your ministers uh denouncing the us
97:54 

97:54 you have several ministers uh
97:58 

97:58 praising china and the prospects of sri
98:01 

98:01 lanka
98:02 

98:02 being carried along by this great
98:05 

98:05 wave the rising tide of china
98:08 

98:08 so that's now either either you
98:11 

98:11 ignore what's going on or you take sides
98:14 

98:14 i don't see why
98:15 

98:15 uh we should have done it here we must
98:18 

98:18 be aware of where we are located
98:21 

98:21 uh and and take into account india's
98:24 

98:24 possible
98:26 

98:26 apprehensions and perceptions and try to
98:28 

98:28 allay those which we have not done
98:30 

98:30 i mean india was very keen
98:34 

98:34 at least on the implementation of the
98:35 

98:35 13th amendment we could have given them
98:37 

98:37 that
98:39 

98:39 uh when they have a checklist of
98:40 

98:40 concerns at least you take off you know
98:42 

98:42 some of the tick boxes we haven't picked
98:43 

98:43 on the single
98:45 

98:45 i i'm not somebody who supports handing
98:48 

98:48 over the
98:49 

98:49 eastern terminal to india
98:52 

98:52 but we could very easily have picked off
98:54 

98:54 the devolution tick box
98:56 

98:56 but we didn't so we've not given them
98:58 

98:58 anything
98:59 

98:59 we've cancelled the japanese light rail
99:01 

99:01 project
99:02 

99:02 and we've learned in the direction of
99:05 

99:05 china
99:08 

99:08 and that is not going to have zero
99:11 

99:11 consequences after the indians are now
99:13 

99:13 reeling with kobe
99:15 

99:15 but uh i don't think that
99:18 

99:18 kobe 19 is something that cancels the
99:22 

99:22 importance of the indian southern
99:23 

99:23 command and the fact that
99:25 

99:25 you have a very important squadron of uh
99:30 

99:30 sukhoi 30 fighter bombers
99:33 

99:33 located there
99:36 

99:36 in tamil nadu and that they carry uh
99:40 

99:40 brahmos
99:41 

99:41 cruz missiles now i'm not saying that's
99:43 

99:43 against sri lanka but
99:44 

99:44 we come under we come into that sphere
99:47 

99:47 of influence
99:49 

99:49 and we have to know that they will
99:51 

99:51 perceive the visit of a
99:52 

99:52 chinese defense minister who should have
99:54 

99:54 been welcomed i i mean whatever the
99:56 

99:56 government that's fine
99:57 

99:57 but we have to take this into account
99:59 

99:59 and we are either not taking them into
100:01 

100:01 account they're totally oblivious
100:03 

100:03 or arrogantly so about it
100:06 

100:06 or we are fans of one of the two
100:10 

100:10 competitors just as the early government
100:12 

100:12 were fans of the west
100:14 

100:14 with a lot of fans of the chinese uh
100:18 

100:18 and they're going along like uh the
100:20 

100:20 little children who went
100:21 

100:21 uh behind the fight piper of hamling
100:24 

100:24 um we seem to have been doing that
100:27 

100:27 during the last administration and even
100:29 

100:29 more so
100:30 

100:30 during this administration it's just
100:31 

100:31 that the pied piper
100:33 

100:33 is of different uh nationality
100:36 

100:36 and the tune may be somewhat different
100:38 

100:38 but the behavior is the same and it's
100:39 

100:39 not going to help us
100:42 

100:42 at all
100:46 

100:46 uh thank you dr diane uh just i there's
100:48 

100:48 one simple question to you and then
100:50 

100:50 let's jump to dr ganeshan
100:52 

100:52 so uh by passing the i mean i hope
100:55 

100:55 i don't know uh the post city bill might
100:57 

100:57 pass or not but it's up to parliament
100:59 

100:59 but by doing so are we putting uh
101:02 

101:02 the non-alignment policy in are we
101:04 

101:04 showing it up into a dustbin
101:06 

101:06 and secondly is is non-alignment still
101:09 

101:09 relevant
101:11 

101:11 well you know uh non-alignment does not
101:14 

101:14 alignment
101:15 

101:15 mark one mark two mark three mark four
101:19 

101:19 not the northern movement is essentially
101:22 

101:22 a trade union
101:23 

101:23 and when you're a small country an
101:25 

101:25 underdeveloped country
101:26 

101:26 it's good not to have to stand alone uh
101:30 

101:30 so just like you have the gmo or
101:33 

101:33 whatever
101:34 

101:34 this is the trade union of the global
101:36 

101:36 south and the numbers are growing which
101:38 

101:38 means
101:39 

101:39 that a growing number of countries find
101:42 

101:42 membership of the non-aligned movement
101:44 

101:44 in their national interest
101:45 

101:45 otherwise it wouldn't keep great it's
101:47 

101:47 117 and counting
101:49 

101:49 it's the largest single grouping
101:52 

101:52 in the united nations system in new york
101:55 

101:55 it's known as the g77
101:58 

101:58 but china is also part of that but it's
102:01 

102:01 an online movement and in geneva it's an
102:04 

102:04 online group
102:04 

102:04 so it's it's uh not as high profile as
102:07 

102:07 it was but it's
102:08 

102:08 growing the second thing is that
102:13 

102:13 non-alignment is in our interest because
102:16 

102:16 we should not be aligned and we weren't
102:18 

102:18 aligned
102:19 

102:19 to any uh military block
102:24 

102:24 or any block which has uh
102:27 

102:27 the intention of or possibility of
102:30 

102:30 military confrontation with each other
102:32 

102:32 that's not in our interest so we say
102:34 

102:34 look we're not alive that does not mean
102:36 

102:36 we say we are neutral i mean this
102:38 

102:38 that was the ridiculous terminology used
102:40 

102:40 by
102:41 

102:41 the this administration uh which
102:45 

102:45 went on to prove that they didn't mean
102:46 

102:46 it at all because they're far from
102:48 

102:48 lifted
102:49 

102:49 uh what it does mean is that not
102:52 

102:52 alignment is
102:53 

102:53 the base from which we must operate but
102:56 

102:56 the the uh the superstructure
103:00 

103:00 must be a policy of
103:03 

103:03 uh what uh general de gaulle called
103:06 

103:06 tools as remotes
103:07 

103:07 that's all around the compass or the
103:10 

103:10 russian
103:10 

103:10 uh former foreign minister and prime
103:13 

103:13 minister again
103:14 

103:14 remarkable multi-vector so
103:17 

103:17 we must reach out around all
103:21 

103:21 around the compass not just one
103:25 

103:25 it is not in our interest to have uh
103:28 

103:28 a world order that is unipolar whether
103:30 

103:30 that unique polarity the the
103:32 

103:32 the poor concern is the united states or
103:35 

103:35 china that's not in our interest
103:37 

103:37 it's in our interest it gives us more
103:38 

103:38 options more autonomy
103:41 

103:41 to have a multipolar world and a
103:43 

103:43 multilateral world
103:46 

103:46 and you can't do that on your own you
103:48 

103:48 work together with other countries
103:50 

103:50 in your global trade union but you
103:53 

103:53 have to top that up with uh this policy
103:56 

103:56 of
103:56 

103:56 uh all points of the campus and
103:60 

103:60 uh a policy of balance now balance does
104:03 

104:03 not mean
104:04 

104:04 you are equidistant all the time on
104:06 

104:06 every question because you will
104:08 

104:08 view the issue from the point of view of
104:10 

104:10 your national interest
104:12 

104:12 but it does mean that balance does mean
104:14 

104:14 balance and and we are not
104:17 

104:17 balancing now we are tilting very
104:19 

104:19 heavily
104:20 

104:20 and and advertising our
104:24 

104:24 alignment not only in terms of
104:27 

104:27 the port city but as i said for the
104:30 

104:30 first time
104:32 

104:32 for country we just had democracy for 90
104:34 

104:34 years
104:35 

104:35 we have a leadership that says we want
104:38 

104:38 to learn
104:39 

104:39 the governing experience of the
104:41 

104:41 communist party of china not the
104:43 

104:43 governing experience of
104:44 

104:44 the people's republic of china but of
104:46 

104:46 the communist party of china now i have
104:48 

104:48 no problem with the communist party of
104:49 

104:49 china
104:50 

104:50 i mean and i think it's great for the
104:51 

104:51 chinese but
104:53 

104:53 that's a line we shouldn't cross once
104:56 

104:56 you cross that line
104:57 

104:57 you give the signal to the global
104:58 

104:58 democracies that you are you're
105:01 

105:01 defecting
105:02 

105:02 from the democratic camp now is it
105:06 

105:06 possible to
105:08 

105:08 be a member of the open democratic order
105:13 

105:13 globally and also tap the chinese for as
105:16 

105:16 much as
105:16 

105:16 you can yes of course uh and uh
105:20 

105:20 that's what honourable lakshman khan
105:22 

105:22 government did i mean
105:23 

105:23 whenever we talk about uh balanced uh
105:26 

105:26 sober
105:26 

105:26 same foreign policy
105:30 

105:30 the i always say look you have to ask
105:32 

105:32 yourself only one question i mean if you
105:34 

105:34 think it's really difficult
105:35 

105:35 just ask yourself one question would we
105:37 

105:37 be having this
105:38 

105:38 conversation in lakshmana ghana by the
105:40 

105:40 foreign minister he would
105:42 

105:42 because he'd be doing it in exactly the
105:44 

105:44 way it should be done
105:46 

105:46 uh he had friendships all across
105:49 

105:49 the spectrum he was very conscious of
105:51 

105:51 the economic rights of china and very
105:53 

105:53 happy about it but he was also very
105:57 

105:57 conscious of our
105:58 

105:58 tradition and our existential being as a
106:02 

106:02 democracy he made this brilliant
106:03 

106:03 off-the-cuff speech
106:05 

106:05 recovering from heart surgery in poland
106:08 

106:08 uh at the
106:09 

106:09 global forum of democracy so
106:12 

106:12 there was never any confusion as to who
106:15 

106:15 we were
106:17 

106:17 normally where we were we were
106:20 

106:20 the neighbor of india and we've always
106:22 

106:22 wanted of it
106:23 

106:23 unfortunately this uh the previous
106:25 

106:25 administration and this administration
106:27 

106:27 are not conscious of
106:28 

106:28 where sri lanka is located the previous
106:30 

106:30 administration had
106:32 

106:32 uh very important personalities
106:35 

106:35 in leading positions and i don't mean
106:38 

106:38 the president of that day
106:39 

106:39 who thought that we were
106:42 

106:42 you know puerto rico or something uh and
106:45 

106:45 this administration thinks that we are
106:47 

106:47 very large island
106:48 

106:48 uh neighboring china
106:52 

106:52 we are so thank you dr dan thank you dr
106:56 

106:56 dan i think your
106:57 

106:57 your points have been well well noted by
106:58 

106:58 our audience uh so let's let's quickly
107:00 

107:00 jump into dr garner
107:02 

107:02 because uh we've been talking about
107:03 

107:03 financial centers and
107:05 

107:05 you know our international financial
107:06 

107:06 center here in the ports in the both
107:08 

107:08 city
107:09 

107:09 uh dr ganeshan so what's what's your
107:12 

107:12 intake on this uh how do you see
107:14 

107:14 uh this working out and so what what's
107:17 

107:17 your reading on on
107:18 

107:18 on the regulatory environment especially
107:20 

107:20 on aml
107:21 

107:21 anti-money laundering uh that the bill
107:23 

107:23 proposes
107:25 

107:25 so the basic stories of a mixed
107:29 

107:29 development for services right there's
107:31 

107:31 leisure as a major component and i think
107:34 

107:34 they're talking about a marina and
107:35 

107:35 tourism development things in hotels
107:37 

107:37 and then there are these sort of
107:39 

107:39 professional services in which finance
107:41 

107:41 services uh legal services i.t services
107:44 

107:44 and so on can come
107:46 

107:46 the leisure part i'm fairly confident
107:48 

107:48 will probably happen
107:50 

107:50 now whether that should have casinos or
107:52 

107:52 not is a debatable point because
107:55 

107:55 then you start risking these issues of
107:57 

107:57 money laundering which come into play
107:59 

107:59 uh that that we need to look at very
108:01 

108:01 carefully and how we
108:02 

108:02 regulate that um the professional
108:04 

108:04 services part and the financial services
108:07 

108:07 are what i
108:08 

108:08 am particularly worried about and um you
108:10 

108:10 need really two conditions to make this
108:12 

108:12 work
108:13 

108:13 one is sri lanka really needs to produce
108:16 

108:16 the kinds of
108:17 

108:17 people that are able to work in the port
108:20 

108:20 city
108:22 

108:22 and that is very important the second
108:25 

108:25 thing that needs to be done is that we
108:28 

108:28 need to have a very
108:29 

108:29 strong regulatory framework with the
108:32 

108:32 central bank very
108:33 

108:33 involved in this because this is the
108:35 

108:35 financial regulator in sri lanka
108:37 

108:37 and all the international conventions
108:39 

108:39 ticked
108:40 

108:40 on money laundering in fact we have to
108:41 

108:41 be even plus compared to that if we want
108:43 

108:43 to attract
108:44 

108:44 the kind of portfolio and other capital
108:46 

108:46 that is necessary
108:48 

108:48 so i i think we need to um be
108:51 

108:51 very uh circumspect about this i just
108:53 

108:53 want to add one more point on the
108:54 

108:54 foreign policy which uh
108:56 

108:56 diane talked about very eloquently um i
108:59 

108:59 think what we really need to do
109:01 

109:01 as we come out of the pandemic and begin
109:04 

109:04 to look at
109:04 

109:04 um the ways in which sri lanka comes out
109:07 

109:07 of
109:08 

109:08 this in a growth-oriented strategy
109:15 

109:15 can i have 30 seconds just to finish so
109:19 

109:19 yes we can hear yeah so we can hear you
109:21 

109:21 now please go on
109:23 

109:23 sure so as we come out of the pandemic
109:26 

109:26 and look to growth
109:27 

109:27 i think we need to take a very hard look
109:30 

109:30 at what are
109:31 

109:31 our international trade investment
109:35 

109:35 and other economic linkages and with
109:37 

109:37 whom are we doing these things
109:39 

109:39 and we need to do a very detailed
109:40 

109:40 mapping for instance in this debate on
109:42 

109:42 the port city and everything that comes
109:44 

109:44 up
109:45 

109:45 it's completely missed the point that
109:47 

109:47 sri lanka's second largest
109:49 

109:49 export market is the united states you
109:52 

109:52 know
109:52 

109:52 and while china may be a major investor
109:55 

109:55 we missed this important point
109:56 

109:56 so this is the thing that we've got to
109:58 

109:58 really learn how to balance this
109:60 

109:60 and it's so easy for large countries say
110:02 

110:02 the us or china
110:04 

110:04 to create some sort of complications in
110:07 

110:07 our trade or investment relationships
110:09 

110:09 which the only person who will suffer in
110:11 

110:11 sri lanka
110:12 

110:12 so we need to take a very hard look at
110:15 

110:15 what are our strategic interests
110:17 

110:17 um and we need to do this in a very
110:19 

110:19 sober data driven manner
110:21 

110:21 and then add the politics that diane was
110:23 

110:23 so clearly talking about on that and
110:25 

110:25 then
110:26 

110:26 i i would go one step further you know i
110:28 

110:28 had an association
110:29 

110:29 uh with the lakshman khadir gama
110:31 

110:31 institute and the one thing i always
110:32 

110:32 felt in the foreign policy context was
110:34 

110:34 that
110:34 

110:34 sri lanka probably benefits from having
110:37 

110:37 some kind of
110:39 

110:39 written foreign policy document which
110:41 

110:41 really sets out what our vision is of
110:44 

110:44 what we want to do and where we want to
110:45 

110:45 achieve in international terms
110:48 

110:48 on a whole range of issues and try to
110:51 

110:51 get a
110:51 

110:51 bipartisan storyline about that because
110:54 

110:54 otherwise these tensions of being very
110:56 

110:56 strategic located in
110:58 

110:58 indian ocean and being at the zigzag or
111:01 

111:01 move around or round about of the
111:03 

111:03 different powers is going to be a major
111:06 

111:06 problem for us
111:06 

111:06 we are not going to succeed economically
111:08 

111:08 without getting the foreign policy and
111:10 

111:10 the politics right um
111:12 

111:12 so we have a lot of homework to do in
111:13 

111:13 sri lanka i feel if we want to be
111:15 

111:15 prosperous
111:16 

111:16 but i'm sort of cautiously optimistic in
111:18 

111:18 the long run that we
111:19 

111:19 will succeed i don't think we are going
111:21 

111:21 to be in a doom and gloom scenario but
111:23 

111:23 we have a lot of hard work to do as we
111:25 

111:25 look ahead
111:31 

111:31 thank you dr dr victoria for joining us
111:35 

111:35 to share
111:35 

111:35 our views on the geopolitical uh context
111:38 

111:38 i think which is very important we are
111:40 

111:40 again
111:41 

111:41 crossing back to the parliamentary
111:43 

111:43 debate and we
111:44 

111:44 think we have to switch also the
111:46 

111:46 moderators will also switch and we would
111:48 

111:48 like to invite uh have anita
111:50 

111:50 and hiroy uh back on the commentator
111:52 

111:52 disc and
111:53 

111:53 we have a another wonderful lineup for
111:55 

111:55 the second part of this discussion
111:57 

111:57 that is rohan
112:01 

112:01 to talk about the shipping industry and
112:03 

112:03 and the insights connected to that
112:05 

112:05 and also uh mr tools from the port city
112:09 

112:09 uh will be also joining to share the
112:11 

112:11 insights
112:12 

112:12 connected to port city with that we are
112:15 

112:15 again crossing back uh
112:16 

112:16 to our main control room that is to
112:19 

112:19 watch the parliament debate and in the
112:21 

112:21 scene thank you uh there's some
112:24 

112:24 interesting stuff happening in
112:25 

112:25 parliament so please stay tuned
112:27 

112:27 and please watch the proceedings huge
112:29 

112:29 problems
112:31 

112:31 i don't know how to get out of this
112:40 

112:40 no no i'm knocked off the video
113:16 

113:16 thank you
113:39 

113:39 foreign
114:21 

114:21 foreign
114:27 

114:27 [Music]
114:49 

114:49 foreign
115:03 

115:03 foreign
115:17 

115:17 facing a few foreign issues so hear me
115:20 

115:20 if you can
115:20 

115:20 uh introduce our next speaker while i
115:23 

115:23 sort this out
115:25 

115:25 i hope everyone uh took a look at the
115:28 

115:28 parliamentary debates
115:29 

115:29 it's very exciting as as to what we know
115:32 

115:32 right now
115:33 

115:33 so let me now introduce our next
115:35 

115:35 panelist who is uh none other than
115:37 

115:37 mr buddhist refugee he's our very own
115:40 

115:40 chairman
115:41 

115:41 of institute and
115:44 

115:44 he is also the ceo of jb securities
115:48 

115:48 and also the lead independent director
115:50 

115:50 of surrendering hotels plc
115:52 

115:52 um so mr muthus i want to start off a
115:55 

115:55 discussion with a question for you what
115:58 

115:58 our legal experts told us earlier
116:00 

116:00 is the fact that the tax exemptions
116:04 

116:04 that were initially proposed in the
116:06 

116:06 positive bill
116:07 

116:07 to very large extent still remain so as
116:10 

116:10 an
116:10 

116:10 investor yourself or somebody who has
116:12 

116:12 dealt with investors yourself over a
116:14 

116:14 period of time
116:15 

116:15 or do you think this is a significant
116:17 

116:17 attraction
116:18 

116:18 for investors coming into the port city
116:20 

116:20 or do you think there are other factors
116:23 

116:23 that could attract them to the port city
116:26 

116:26 yeah so my my view is that obviously
116:30 

116:30 if you are going to give an incentive
116:33 

116:33 like
116:34 

116:34 a very generous tax exemption uh
116:37 

116:37 that is certainly going to be attractive
116:39 

116:39 but that is not the most
116:41 

116:41 important criteria that is going to
116:43 

116:43 determine
116:44 

116:44 whether an investor is going to come and
116:47 

116:47 invest in the port city
116:49 

116:49 uh after this i answer this
116:53 

116:53 maybe i can answer whether sri lanka
116:55 

116:55 should be giving these
116:57 

116:57 incentives but from an investor
116:59 

116:59 perspective
117:00 

117:00 the most important thing is whether they
117:04 

117:04 can
117:04 

117:04 make a return on the investment so the
117:07 

117:07 first criteria that they're going to ask
117:09 

117:09 is what is the business opportunity i
117:12 

117:12 mean
117:13 

117:13 which is the market that i'm serving am
117:15 

117:15 i serving an
117:16 

117:16 onshore market an offshore market what
117:19 

117:19 are the kind of
117:20 

117:20 competencies and capabilities that are
117:23 

117:23 available within the country
117:25 

117:25 or that will be brought in
117:28 

117:28 to a business that is located in the
117:30 

117:30 port city so
117:32 

117:32 can i bring in global talent and global
117:35 

117:35 resources that it will allow
117:37 

117:37 ingress and egress very easily so that
117:40 

117:40 this is a more superior location than
117:42 

117:42 any other
117:44 

117:44 location that you're going to base your
117:46 

117:46 business so
117:47 

117:47 today in a service oriented business it
117:50 

117:50 really doesn't matter where you are
117:52 

117:52 physically located so it has to be a hub
117:55 

117:55 where
117:55 

117:55 you know people want to live and work
117:57 

117:57 and they are going to be highly
117:59 

117:59 productive because
118:00 

118:00 they are next to classic agglomeration
118:03 

118:03 effect that you're next to
118:05 

118:05 many other types of businesses and
118:10 

118:10 some other types of professionals where
118:12 

118:12 you can engage in developing complex
118:14 

118:14 products
118:16 

118:16 so there's a lot of other criteria that
118:18 

118:18 will be uh
118:21 

118:21 more important than tax incentives
118:26 

118:26 yeah thank you but so throughout
118:30 

118:30 the debate today we've seen in a lot of
118:34 

118:34 conversation saying that port city is
118:37 

118:37 going to be this kind of
118:38 

118:38 economic fantasy
118:44 

118:44 it's going to solve a lot of problems
118:47 

118:47 that sri lanka has at this
118:48 

118:48 moment so that and that
118:52 

118:52 that's unlikely to happen in the short
118:54 

118:54 term
118:55 

118:55 because sri lanka has so many
118:58 

118:58 problems currently that have been the
119:01 

119:01 result
119:02 

119:02 of very bad policies and neglect over
119:06 

119:06 70 years so for example our single
119:09 

119:09 biggest issue is how we are going to
119:11 

119:11 service the debt
119:12 

119:12 uh it is highly likely that in the next
119:15 

119:15 12 months that
119:16 

119:16 we will have to restructure our external
119:19 

119:19 debt
119:19 

119:19 that although we are trying to approach
119:21 

119:21 it as a liquidity
119:23 

119:23 crisis we have fundamentally a solvency
119:26 

119:26 crisis that
119:27 

119:27 avocado has perhaps highlighted maybe
119:29 

119:29 nine months ago
119:31 

119:31 so there are then we have the challenge
119:33 

119:33 with the pandemic basically and it is
119:35 

119:35 likely that
119:36 

119:36 probably another nine months or so will
119:38 

119:38 be required
119:39 

119:39 where some kind of stability can be
119:41 

119:41 brought about through vaccination
119:44 

119:44 so most of the benefits that uh probably
119:46 

119:46 that will come
119:47 

119:47 through the port city provided that it
119:49 

119:49 is executed
119:51 

119:51 well probably will take a minimum of
119:53 

119:53 five years
119:54 

119:54 before the economic benefit will flow
119:57 

119:57 into the economy
119:58 

119:58 and if we are going to give a lot of tax
120:00 

120:00 exemptions
120:01 

120:01 then i question whether you know the
120:04 

120:04 economic spillover
120:06 

120:06 in terms of redistribution to the rest
120:08 

120:08 of the economy or any kind of
120:10 

120:10 multiplier is going to be very limited
120:13 

120:13 so i remain skeptical that the port city
120:15 

120:15 itself
120:16 

120:16 can be a panacea for rescuing the sri
120:19 

120:19 lankan economy
120:21 

120:21 although i say the project itself is
120:23 

120:23 fundamentally sound
120:28 

120:28 we're going to take a brief uh pause on
120:31 

120:31 this conversation and switch to
120:33 

120:33 parliament because i believe they have
120:34 

120:34 started the voting process so let's
120:37 

120:37 listen in there for a few minutes and
120:38 

120:38 see what's happening
121:07 

121:07 uh
121:21 

121:21 foreign
121:35 

121:35 foreign
121:49 

121:49 foreign
122:03 

122:03 foreign
122:28 

122:28 [Music]
122:40 

122:40 [Music]
122:45 

122:45 foreign
122:59 

122:59 one
123:11 

123:11 [Music]
123:13 

123:13 oh oh
123:55 

123:55 okay
124:04 

124:04 hello um we're back again it seems that
124:07 

124:07 the work is in progress
124:09 

124:09 yes so um as to uh
124:12 

124:12 the manner in which the parliament has
124:13 

124:13 set out this will be the final
124:16 

124:16 voting on the port city bill i believe
124:18 

124:18 and i think when the voting concludes
124:20 

124:20 we can have an understanding of as to
124:22 

124:22 the majority the
124:25 

124:25 bill has secured will it be a simple
124:27 

124:27 majority or will it be a
124:29 

124:29 a special majority which is a
124:33 

124:33 two-thirds majority so i think as it all
124:35 

124:35 goes we'll be able to know the progress
124:37 

124:37 pretty exciting yes very exciting uh
124:40 

124:40 moment right now
124:41 

124:41 but while we wait for parliament to take
124:43 

124:43 this decision to make the world let's go
124:45 

124:45 back to mr matasa jafaji who we have on
124:47 

124:47 call
124:48 

124:48 um he's an expert when it comes to
124:50 

124:50 matters like this
124:51 

124:51 so mr murtaza could we um oh are we just
124:54 

124:54 getting an update um
124:55 

124:55 i believe the bill has passed into the
124:57 

124:57 committee stage
124:59 

124:59 so while we will we will stay posted on
125:02 

125:02 what's happening in parliament
125:03 

125:03 and keep our viewers informed as well um
125:06 

125:06 but
125:06 

125:06 in the meantime uh mr murtaza if you
125:09 

125:09 could
125:09 

125:09 uh speak to us a little bit about what
125:12 

125:12 this
125:13 

125:13 port city bill if it is passed today if
125:15 

125:15 it is passed through the next
125:16 

125:16 you know next 30 minutes we will
125:18 

125:18 probably have an idea
125:20 

125:20 hopefully um what do you think the
125:23 

125:23 long-term
125:24 

125:24 economic impacts this is going to have
125:26 

125:26 on sri lanka what is the sort of
125:28 

125:28 precedent this is going to set
125:30 

125:30 yeah so so any kind of special economic
125:33 

125:33 zone is basically one minute mr voters i
125:37 

125:37 believe
125:38 

125:38 uh we are having a bit of an issue with
125:41 

125:41 audio
125:42 

125:42 can you hear me okay sorry the issue is
125:44 

125:44 on my end
125:46 

125:46 so anita if you if you look at the
125:49 

125:49 merits of special economic zones
125:52 

125:52 um if you take sri lanka when we started
125:55 

125:55 with our
125:55 

125:55 boi zones basically we have about nine
125:58 

125:58 nine or ten zones most of them have been
126:01 

126:01 highly successful
126:02 

126:02 they are running at occupancies of 70 80
126:05 

126:05 not even 90
126:07 

126:07 so this what the poor city is
126:10 

126:10 envisioning
126:11 

126:11 is a special economic zone which has a
126:14 

126:14 land area which is significantly
126:16 

126:16 larger like for example the katanaiker
126:19 

126:19 and the
126:20 

126:20 the the beer gamma zones are about 300
126:23 

126:23 acres
126:24 

126:24 and this particular one is some 400
126:27 

126:27 hectares which probably work out about a
126:28 

126:28 thousand acres so it's a significantly
126:31 

126:31 larger
126:32 

126:32 land area and it is a new territory that
126:34 

126:34 has been recovered from the reclaimed
126:36 

126:36 from the city
126:37 

126:37 it is focused mainly on service
126:40 

126:40 industries unlike our previous zones
126:42 

126:42 they are not focused on
126:43 

126:43 manufacturing industries and
126:47 

126:47 you also have very well planned
126:50 

126:50 infrastructure with superior transport
126:53 

126:53 connectivity
126:54 

126:54 in terms of the port access road that
126:56 

126:56 will connect to the highway system
126:58 

126:58 there will be an underground road
127:02 

127:02 uh below a goldfish that will connect to
127:04 

127:04 the marine drive because that has not
127:06 

127:06 even started to be built but it's in the
127:08 

127:08 plan perhaps there will be a connection
127:11 

127:11 to the light rail system
127:13 

127:13 so you have a very advantaged location
127:16 

127:16 and then
127:16 

127:16 you have control regulations
127:19 

127:19 which probably will have superior
127:22 

127:22 planning to what
127:23 

127:23 the colombo uda has for the city of
127:26 

127:26 colombo
127:27 

127:27 so for example you know your viewership
127:31 

127:31 the rights which protect your view so
127:34 

127:34 there are you know in terms of property
127:36 

127:36 protection
127:37 

127:37 uh there probably is going to be a
127:39 

127:39 higher degree of
127:41 

127:41 protection than you would probably get
127:43 

127:43 in other parts
127:45 

127:45 and you you have access to perhaps more
127:48 

127:48 efficient bureaucracy because you are
127:50 

127:50 delegating a lot of powers to
127:53 

127:53 the commission and then there's an
127:55 

127:55 estate management company
127:57 

127:57 so most of the similar services that we
128:00 

128:00 expect as citizens
128:02 

128:02 you probably get a superior level of
128:04 

128:04 service
128:06 

128:06 so all this finally has to lead to two
128:08 

128:08 things either there is a larger market
128:11 

128:11 of
128:11 

128:11 opportunity or basically
128:14 

128:14 you're going to have a higher
128:16 

128:16 productivity by locating yourself
128:19 

128:19 in the port city either in terms of work
128:21 

128:21 or living there
128:22 

128:22 or ideally the combination of these two
128:24 

128:24 things
128:25 

128:25 so that that's the hope and that is the
128:28 

128:28 hope the other thing that
128:29 

128:29 it allows is that when you have this
128:31 

128:31 kind of sanitized
128:33 

128:33 micro environment it allows a lot of
128:36 

128:36 policy experimentation so it's also a
128:41 

128:41 fantastic opportunity to do change
128:43 

128:43 management because
128:45 

128:45 you know our people are sri lankan
128:47 

128:47 people are very emotional people
128:49 

128:49 so i don't think they're the most
128:51 

128:51 rational race
128:52 

128:52 out there and therefore they're not the
128:55 

128:55 best informed people
128:56 

128:56 uh so they they can be very easily
128:59 

128:59 misled
129:00 

129:00 and many governments over the years have
129:03 

129:03 been trying to
129:05 

129:05 improve on certain amount of the
129:07 

129:07 legislation but because we have such a
129:10 

129:10 uh fractured political system where
129:13 

129:13 everything is by
129:15 

129:15 there's no bipartisan approach
129:16 

129:16 everything is partisanship when i was
129:18 

129:18 looking at the voting
129:20 

129:20 uh most of the voting was happening
129:22 

129:22 purely on party lines you know you
129:24 

129:24 didn't
129:25 

129:25 see people uh voting based on their
129:27 

129:27 functions
129:28 

129:28 uh or what they think is an objective
129:31 

129:31 assessment
129:33 

129:33 so therefore this will give you an
129:35 

129:35 opportunity
129:36 

129:36 to kind of experiment
129:39 

129:39 with new policies
129:44 

129:44 new practices etc that you probably find
129:47 

129:47 difficult to do elsewhere in sri lanka
129:50 

129:50 and then you know you can demonstrate
129:53 

129:53 that
129:53 

129:53 when you it's like a policy lab like a
129:56 

129:56 policy experiment
129:58 

129:58 and since it's to some extent ring
130:00 

130:00 fenced
130:01 

130:01 maybe not physically but certainly
130:04 

130:04 virtually or in some form there is some
130:07 

130:07 legal ring fencing
130:08 

130:08 going on that there's a lot of things
130:11 

130:11 that
130:11 

130:11 you can experiment there and showcase
130:14 

130:14 and then it can be a demand there can be
130:17 

130:17 a demonstration effect
130:18 

130:18 so that you know these these policies
130:20 

130:20 were tried in this particular place and
130:21 

130:21 therefore
130:22 

130:22 they succeeded or not succeeded and then
130:25 

130:25 since it's within the same country you
130:27 

130:27 can
130:27 

130:27 show people hey this worked and
130:30 

130:30 similarly
130:31 

130:31 companies also use this kind of approach
130:33 

130:33 that
130:34 

130:34 if you want to do something new
130:36 

130:36 sometimes you cannot bring the change
130:38 

130:38 into the existing environment you try to
130:40 

130:40 do it in a small
130:42 

130:42 subsidiary or you know not in the main
130:44 

130:44 premises not in the main office building
130:47 

130:47 and then you see whether this is working
130:49 

130:49 or not so i am quite optimistic that
130:51 

130:51 this could be a policy experiment space
130:53 

130:53 and we can try a lot of things that we
130:55 

130:55 have been struggling for so
130:56 

130:56 long to implement
131:02 

131:02 hi everybody sorry to jump in
131:05 

131:05 and kind of interrupt your discussion so
131:08 

131:08 as far as
131:09 

131:09 we know uh the amendments are being
131:11 

131:11 debated right now in parliament
131:13 

131:13 and they are taking award for each
131:15 

131:15 amendment so it's pretty interesting
131:17 

131:17 let's see what are the amendments that
131:18 

131:18 will finally be taken up after
131:20 

131:20 the voting concludes so
131:24 

131:24 so while we wait um for parliament to do
131:27 

131:27 to
131:27 

131:27 to take a decision on the on the
131:29 

131:29 amendments mr murtaza you mentioned
131:32 

131:32 that one of the kind of benefits of port
131:34 

131:34 city is that it is
131:35 

131:35 this kind of policy experiment the
131:37 

131:37 policy lab we can see if these policies
131:39 

131:39 actually work in sri lanka
131:41 

131:41 and then hopefully learn from that and
131:43 

131:43 implement in the rest of the island
131:46 

131:46 but if my understanding is correcting
131:48 

131:48 correct
131:50 

131:50 following the supreme court decision
131:52 

131:52 some of the powers of the commission to
131:54 

131:54 make a lot of these decisions
131:56 

131:56 have been curtailed do you think this is
131:59 

131:59 going to be a problem
132:02 

132:02 so my understanding is this control
132:05 

132:05 regulation and they themselves basically
132:08 

132:08 cannot uh do it on their own
132:11 

132:11 that they will become like an
132:13 

132:13 implementation space
132:14 

132:14 but parliament certainly can empower
132:17 

132:17 them
132:18 

132:18 so it will have to legislate and give
132:20 

132:20 them those powers
132:22 

132:22 so you know the political setup i
132:25 

132:25 i would assume there will be less
132:27 

132:27 resistance because this will be seen as
132:29 

132:29 new
132:30 

132:30 something slightly different of course
132:31 

132:31 it's all mental accounting
132:33 

132:33 but it will have to be definitely passed
132:36 

132:36 in parliament
132:36 

132:36 and they will be empowered but perhaps
132:39 

132:39 they are going to be more prepared to do
132:41 

132:41 that
132:42 

132:42 uh then if if you pass a rule or
132:45 

132:45 regulation and it
132:46 

132:46 applies to the whole country then there
132:49 

132:49 are winners and losers and there are
132:51 

132:51 lots of politics that get involved
132:54 

132:54 you know there is an ideology there are
132:57 

132:57 so many different
132:59 

132:59 it's not necessarily a rationality that
133:01 

133:01 finally matters
133:02 

133:02 so it is in that context basically that
133:05 

133:05 i say anita that
133:06 

133:06 although some of the you know complete
133:09 

133:09 discretionary powers have been taken
133:10 

133:10 away from the commission
133:12 

133:12 it still allows them to enforce provided
133:15 

133:15 parliament approved
133:22 

133:22 uh if i'm to ask you another question mr
133:24 

133:24 muthusa um
133:25 

133:25 what we can understand is that the
133:27 

133:27 regulatory within the port city
133:29 

133:29 and the regulated framework outside the
133:30 

133:30 port city will be different
133:32 

133:32 so there won't be an equal playing field
133:34 

133:34 to the investors that will come in
133:36 

133:36 so do you think when the port city is
133:39 

133:39 live and kicking
133:40 

133:40 the number of investors that will come
133:42 

133:42 to maine and sri lanka will reduce
133:48 

133:48 yeah so what i'm told is that
133:52 

133:52 when you say regulation not necessarily
133:54 

133:54 the financial regulation
133:56 

133:56 because i i think the court ruling was
133:58 

133:58 that not to
133:60 

133:60 uh give them regulatory powers so it is
134:03 

134:03 just that
134:03 

134:03 what has been given is that i have some
134:07 

134:07 you know efficiency in administration
134:09 

134:09 that similar rules and regulations
134:12 

134:12 unless there is some special legislation
134:15 

134:15 that gives them a different set of rules
134:17 

134:17 and regulations
134:18 

134:18 it is the real benefit is in the
134:21 

134:21 efficiency and effectiveness of the
134:24 

134:24 implementation
134:25 

134:25 and they could carve out some you know
134:27 

134:27 more business pro business friendly
134:29 

134:29 regulations that can be brought forward
134:31 

134:31 so this is a conscious effort that is
134:34 

134:34 being made to
134:36 

134:36 give an advantage to this location
134:39 

134:39 so whether it will take away uh
134:42 

134:42 opportunities from
134:43 

134:43 other parts of the country for sure i
134:46 

134:46 mean
134:46 

134:46 but then we have to look at
134:49 

134:49 this way that we are probably bringing
134:52 

134:52 in investment into sri lanka that would
134:55 

134:55 not have come in any way
134:57 

134:57 so what we should do is not not go and
135:00 

135:00 give
135:01 

135:01 incentives etc and get existing
135:03 

135:03 businesses to go and relocate there to
135:05 

135:05 take
135:06 

135:06 advantage of you know some of the
135:08 

135:08 incentives or superior
135:10 

135:10 it should be more projected to bring new
135:12 

135:12 you know of course you can't simply say
135:14 

135:14 that okay the existing people cannot
135:15 

135:15 take advantage of this
135:17 

135:17 but the whole benefit is hopefully that
135:20 

135:20 maybe 75 to 80
135:21 

135:21 of the investment that comes in is
135:23 

135:23 entirely new
135:25 

135:25 that investors who wouldn't
135:27 

135:27 traditionally have looked at sri lanka
135:29 

135:29 now basically are keeping it in their
135:33 

135:33 ambit because they feel that there are
135:35 

135:35 some benefits that are coming
135:38 

135:38 through the infrastructure and the
135:40 

135:40 efficiencies that the port city
135:42 

135:42 is offering and look at sri lanka as a
135:45 

135:45 viable
135:46 

135:46 location to either locate themselves or
135:50 

135:50 create some kind of value through the
135:52 

135:52 port city
135:56 

135:56 so before we move into the into our next
135:59 

135:59 question and our final question for mr
136:02 

136:02 jafaji a quick update on what's
136:04 

136:04 happening in parliament so
136:05 

136:05 the second reading of the port city
136:07 

136:07 economic commission draft bill
136:09 

136:09 has been passed with 148 voting 4 and 59
136:13 

136:13 voting against
136:15 

136:15 and the committee stage reading is
136:17 

136:17 currently in progress
136:19 

136:19 uh yes mr mundus so coming back to our
136:23 

136:23 final question
136:24 

136:24 for the day of one of the amendments or
136:26 

136:26 one of the suggestions
136:28 

136:28 that were presented by our opposition
136:29 

136:29 party during the course of the
136:31 

136:31 parliamentary debates
136:32 

136:32 was the fact that the economic
136:33 

136:33 commission should be converted to a
136:35 

136:35 state-owned end price
136:37 

136:37 do you think this is a viable option
136:39 

136:39 that this this is something that
136:40 

136:40 could be profitable in the future or
136:43 

136:43 will this
136:44 

136:44 may only be something again that might
136:46 

136:46 not bring in
136:48 

136:48 the projected economic growth
136:51 

136:51 so it's a it's a very legal technicality
136:55 

136:55 you know
136:55 

136:55 so the commission when i read the
136:59 

136:59 portuguese bill is a body component
137:02 

137:02 so any so he is also a body corporate
137:05 

137:05 so what's the difference i can't see any
137:07 

137:07 differences
137:08 

137:08 it's a different type of body property
137:11 

137:11 like for example the electricity board
137:12 

137:12 is a body property
137:14 

137:14 petroleum corporation is a corporation
137:16 

137:16 that's also a body purpose
137:18 

137:18 so it's just technicalities of the legal
137:22 

137:22 entity it doesn't make anything as long
137:24 

137:24 as my understanding is his commission is
137:26 

137:26 also answerable to parliament
137:29 

137:29 and i don't know what amendments that
137:30 

137:30 will be finally done but
137:32 

137:32 all the parliamentary oversight and
137:36 

137:36 accountability is going to be there so
137:38 

137:38 it doesn't make any difference
137:42 

137:42 thank you so much for your valuable
137:44 

137:44 insight so i think with that we'll be
137:46 

137:46 wrapping up this
137:47 

137:47 session yeah uh we'll do a quick uh
137:50 

137:50 change to uh parliamentary debates which
137:52 

137:52 i think is very exciting right now with
137:54 

137:54 the what in episode going so
137:56 

137:56 in this we'll have a couple of other
137:58 

137:58 experts who i believe will also give
138:01 

138:01 much valuable insights so yeah stay
138:09 

138:09 tuned
138:17 

138:17 [Music]
138:23 

138:23 okay
138:37 

138:37 foreign
138:38 

138:38 [Music]
138:45 

138:45 we take it from here
138:56 

138:56 let me see
139:07 

139:08 [Applause]
139:08 

139:08 [Music]
139:19 

139:19 so
139:47 

139:47 okay
139:49 

139:49 [Music]
140:01 

140:01 foreign
140:03 

140:03 [Music]
140:12 

140:12 [Music]
140:29 

140:29 [Music]
140:52 

140:52 hello everyone um we're back again
140:56 

140:56 so a quick recap with the parliament is
140:59 

140:59 still making a final decision
141:01 

141:01 and while we wait for that we have one
141:04 

141:04 expert on
141:05 

141:05 call and we have another joining us in a
141:07 

141:07 few minutes
141:08 

141:08 we have with us miss iromi pereira i
141:11 

141:11 will let hironi give a quick
141:13 

141:13 introduction to miss pereira before we
141:15 

141:15 start this discussion
141:17 

141:17 so miss ironic pereira is a former
141:19 

141:19 senior researcher
141:20 

141:20 at litzy alternatives she was also the
141:23 

141:23 asia foundation development fellow of
141:26 

141:26 2017
141:27 

141:27 and a research background lies in land
141:29 

141:29 issues urban change
141:31 

141:31 and urban crisis thank you very much for
141:35 

141:35 joining us today
141:37 

141:37 hi thanks for having me um and i just
141:40 

141:40 wanted to say that i'm experiencing very
141:41 

141:41 bad weather right now so i apologize if
141:44 

141:44 i get interrupted at any point um
141:48 

141:48 so for today's commentary discussion on
141:50 

141:50 the colombo port city economic
141:52 

141:52 commission bill i would like to offer a
141:54 

141:54 slightly different perspective
141:56 

141:56 from the lens of spatial justice i have
141:59 

141:59 a lot more questions than analysis that
142:01 

142:01 i want to
142:02 

142:02 that i want to post today because i
142:04 

142:04 think there's a lot more that we need to
142:06 

142:06 question
142:06 

142:06 instead of ex accepting so much as a
142:09 

142:09 given
142:10 

142:10 i also want to leave uh with these
142:12 

142:12 various questions because
142:14 

142:14 even though we are debating the economic
142:16 

142:16 bill today there are many other issues
142:18 

142:18 that have predated it
142:19 

142:19 and will continue to be issues that we
142:22 

142:22 can't ignore going forward
142:24 

142:24 um so my comments are anchored to two
142:26 

142:26 broad perspectives
142:27 

142:27 um and one is that despite the
142:30 

142:30 environment and livelihood harm that we
142:32 

142:32 have seen over the years
142:33 

142:33 um you know the question is why do we
142:35 

142:35 accept this project as a given
142:37 

142:37 and channel our energies into making it
142:39 

142:39 better or making it work for us
142:42 

142:42 and second is that if it is about making
142:44 

142:44 better what questions around the
142:46 

142:46 promises
142:47 

142:47 and spaces should we be asking if we are
142:49 

142:49 to truly reap the benefits
142:51 

142:51 that we believe changing these bills and
142:53 

142:53 policies will achieve
142:56 

142:56 um so the initial resistance support
142:58 

142:58 city came many years ago from the
142:59 

142:59 fisheries community and the communities
143:01 

143:01 living by the coast north of
143:04 

143:04 and over time the mobilization and
143:06 

143:06 protests have highlighted the impact of
143:08 

143:08 sand mining the dredging and the overall
143:10 

143:10 creation of port city
143:12 

143:12 uh and what and the impact it has had on
143:14 

143:14 the communities by way of livelihood and
143:16 

143:16 land
143:18 

143:18 because of the environment impact what
143:21 

143:21 has happened in parallel but
143:22 

143:22 less publicized has been the ecological
143:24 

143:24 damage that has happened inland
143:27 

143:27 due to the quarrying activities for the
143:28 

143:28 creation of port city
143:30 

143:30 so for example areas like paducah and
143:32 

143:32 the surrounding areas have seen its
143:34 

143:34 water table depleting
143:36 

143:36 as well as reports of landslips areas
143:38 

143:38 that have always had an abandoned
143:40 

143:40 abundance of water in their wells have
143:42 

143:42 seen them completely dry up during this
143:44 

143:44 time
143:45 

143:45 the environment impact of port city has
143:47 

143:47 always sort of been at the heart of the
143:49 

143:49 protests and the resistance
143:51 

143:51 um we have seen over the years that the
143:53 

143:53 initial eia was flawed
143:55 

143:55 the previous government came into power
143:57 

143:57 in 2015 on the promise that
143:59 

143:59 city would be cancelled and you know
144:01 

144:01 during that time we saw some
144:03 

144:03 investigation and information into the
144:05 

144:05 eia
144:06 

144:06 and yet here we are uh you know with
144:08 

144:08 this project going ahead
144:10 

144:10 um while the plans and the names may
144:12 

144:12 have changed over the years the
144:14 

144:14 ambitions and the promises haven't
144:16 

144:16 um we also have to say this in the
144:19 

144:19 context of
144:20 

144:20 sri lanka's post-war development drive
144:22 

144:22 particularly in the plan to
144:24 

144:24 transform colombo into a world-class
144:26 

144:26 city
144:27 

144:27 port city is very much a part of what
144:29 

144:29 drives this imaginary of
144:30 

144:30 classity and what has been particularly
144:33 

144:33 challenging for us
144:34 

144:34 as researchers and activists working on
144:37 

144:37 equitable and sustainable development
144:39 

144:39 is that these projected or you know
144:42 

144:42 promised futures make it hard for
144:43 

144:43 everyone
144:44 

144:44 uh from communities to practitioners to
144:47 

144:47 understand and realize how
144:49 

144:49 truly positive will affect them what we
144:51 

144:51 see now are the you know the shiny
144:53 

144:53 renderings of port city the billboards
144:55 

144:55 with attractive
144:56 

144:56 images and promising you know it
144:58 

144:58 promises us so many different
144:59 

144:59 things um and it's not just port city
145:02 

145:02 colombo's urban regeneration overall
145:04 

145:04 promises tens of thousands of job
145:06 

145:06 opportunities
145:08 

145:08 central park like public spaces
145:10 

145:10 waterfront properties you know the list
145:12 

145:12 is just
145:12 

145:12 endless um and these promises by the
145:16 

145:16 developers and politicians alike have
145:18 

145:18 captured the imagination
145:19 

145:19 of sri lankans and these are not just of
145:22 

145:22 the elite but also the middle class and
145:24 

145:24 the working classes who imagine a better
145:26 

145:26 future for their children
145:27 

145:27 in this world-class city yet to come
145:30 

145:30 and this is where the crucial questions
145:32 

145:32 around equity and special justice
145:34 

145:34 come about so how can we break down
145:37 

145:37 these numbers to
145:38 

145:38 understand and realize how it will
145:40 

145:40 actually affect us
145:41 

145:41 um so in the lead up to the local
145:43 

145:43 government elections in 2018 at one of
145:46 

145:46 the pocket meetings in a working class
145:48 

145:48 poor neighborhood in colombo
145:49 

145:49 i heard mayor rosenstein and i to talk
145:51 

145:51 about how port city will create so many
145:53 

145:53 jobs for our youth and how
145:55 

145:55 you know if she's elected as mayor she
145:57 

145:57 will work to prepare the youngsters of
145:58 

145:58 the city to be ready for these jobs
146:01 

146:01 and uh ajit niwa khabra today said in
146:04 

146:04 parliament that colombo port city will
146:06 

146:06 is expected to generate 200 000 jobs in
146:09 

146:09 construction
146:10 

146:10 phase and 83 000 dollar-based jobs in
146:13 

146:13 the next five years
146:14 

146:14 so i think the questions we should be
146:16 

146:16 asking are you know how did they arrive
146:18 

146:18 at this figure of 83 000
146:20 

146:20 you know what are the type of jobs he's
146:21 

146:21 talking about is it blue color is it
146:23 

146:23 skilled
146:24 

146:24 white color um are our school
146:26 

146:26 curriculums being developed and
146:28 

146:28 modernized to meet these job
146:29 

146:29 requirements
146:30 

146:30 and what about beyond the next five
146:32 

146:32 years you know what kind of you know
146:34 

146:34 future does it hold for sri lankans
146:36 

146:36 and another question we should be asking
146:38 

146:38 is around public space
146:40 

146:40 um previous media reports have stated
146:43 

146:43 that the uda will be handling the public
146:45 

146:45 spaces of port city
146:47 

146:47 and officials from the uda who were
146:49 

146:49 interviewed regarding port city have
146:51 

146:51 given you know extremely telling
146:52 

146:52 interviews
146:53 

146:53 ranging from saying that port city is
146:55 

146:55 behind individuals
146:57 

146:57 to saying that the aesthetic of the
146:58 

146:58 public spaces will be inspired by the
147:00 

147:00 ancient kingdoms of sri lanka
147:02 

147:02 so you know is port city are going to
147:04 

147:04 look like anurag the poorer and poland
147:06 

147:06 and inspire these designs and and
147:10 

147:10 for me this really goes to the heart of
147:11 

147:11 the issues here and where
147:13 

147:13 from the start of the project
147:15 

147:15 consultations have always been
147:16 

147:16 behind closed doors and with so-called
147:19 

147:19 experts
147:20 

147:20 the general public or affected
147:22 

147:22 communities and civil society have been
147:24 

147:24 kept out of the discussions
147:25 

147:25 and have only been recipients of you
147:27 

147:27 know sort of these jazzy powerpoint
147:29 

147:29 presentations at some point
147:31 

147:31 so are we bearing such a big burden for
147:33 

147:33 spaces that won't add
147:35 

147:35 any value to us or even we know will not
147:37 

147:37 be accessible to everyone
147:39 

147:39 um spaces can be public in idea but
147:42 

147:42 exclusionary practice as we know um it
147:44 

147:44 can be exclusionary in design
147:46 

147:46 exclusionary to the poor um to
147:49 

147:49 people who don't conform with the idea
147:51 

147:51 of a disciplined society
147:53 

147:53 and we already have this kind of
147:55 

147:55 ideology affecting how we live
147:57 

147:57 and exist in colombo so what does port
147:59 

147:59 city hold for us
148:00 

148:00 in terms of right to public space or the
148:02 

148:02 city in general
148:13 

148:13 one second i believe we're having some
148:15 

148:15 technical
148:16 

148:16 issues
148:26 

148:26 and the state talks of a slum-free
148:27 

148:27 colombo but they never
148:29 

148:29 you know talk about a poverty-free
148:30 

148:30 colombo um so
148:32 

148:32 why is it that we are not asking
148:34 

148:34 questions around how we can meaningfully
148:36 

148:36 shape
148:36 

148:36 the outcome of port city um although for
148:39 

148:39 me i think the key question has always
148:41 

148:41 been
148:41 

148:41 why have we expect accepted port city as
148:45 

148:45 inevitable um why haven't we
148:48 

148:48 held the count to politicians who have
148:49 

148:49 publicly stated the flaws and said that
148:51 

148:51 they will cancel the project you know in
148:53 

148:53 terms of
148:54 

148:54 you know national interest and you know
148:56 

148:56 yet continue to go ahead with it
148:59 

148:59 even with the current discussions around
149:01 

149:01 the portrait economic bill
149:03 

149:03 i see so many people saying how port
149:05 

149:05 city will be good for sri lanka if we do
149:07 

149:07 it properly
149:08 

149:08 but you know what does that really mean
149:10 

149:10 when so many people have already paid
149:12 

149:12 such a high price
149:13 

149:13 in terms of their land and their
149:15 

149:15 livelihood um
149:16 

149:16 and is it because they're not part of
149:18 

149:18 this sort of speculative imaginary of
149:20 

149:20 the world-class city
149:21 

149:21 and can be chalked down to inevitable
149:24 

149:24 sacrifices of development
149:26 

149:26 and you know is it also because they're
149:27 

149:27 just small in numbers scattered in
149:29 

149:29 various parts of the country and they
149:31 

149:31 don't have the same kind of budgets for
149:33 

149:33 international public relations and media
149:35 

149:35 strategies
149:36 

149:36 and i guess also we should be concerned
149:39 

149:39 about whether the sacrifices people are
149:41 

149:41 making and the compensation
149:42 

149:42 offered to them you know do they equal
149:44 

149:44 the economic gains of port city
149:47 

149:47 and are we asking the right questions
149:49 

149:49 around wastewater
149:50 

149:50 switch and all of that that positively
149:53 

149:53 generate
149:54 

149:54 and the role of cmc in managing all of
149:56 

149:56 this and whether they even have the
149:57 

149:57 capacity to do so
149:59 

149:59 and most significantly you know what
150:02 

150:02 price are we paying in terms of the
150:03 

150:03 environment
150:05 

150:05 and going forward i think there's a good
150:07 

150:07 lesson in which we need to rethink our
150:09 

150:09 approach to
150:10 

150:10 development infrastructure projects in
150:12 

150:12 general you know we approach it in sort
150:14 

150:14 of a single discipline where we look at
150:16 

150:16 it in terms of land rights or livelihood
150:18 

150:18 or the environment and now we are
150:20 

150:20 looking at it so the constitution
150:22 

150:22 and you know these things they don't
150:24 

150:24 exist in isolation and
150:25 

150:25 not seeing them as different pieces of
150:27 

150:27 one puzzle is a disadvantage to the
150:29 

150:29 discourse and to the advocacy
150:32 

150:32 and really special justice should be at
150:34 

150:34 the center of our discussions if what we
150:36 

150:36 want our cities
150:37 

150:37 that are not just sustainable but also
150:39 

150:39 equitable
150:41 

150:41 and we also need to look at the global
150:43 

150:43 experience more carefully and see
150:45 

150:45 sort of you know what the future holds
150:47 

150:47 for us
150:48 

150:48 and what we see with port city is really
150:50 

150:50 not unique to sri lanka there are many
150:52 

150:52 many
150:53 

150:53 similar bri infrastructure projects from
150:56 

150:56 athens to london to
150:57 

150:57 from north africa to the middle east
150:59 

150:59 that we should be looking and learning
151:01 

151:01 from
151:02 

151:02 and some you know key threats from those
151:04 

151:04 all those cities is that you know the
151:05 

151:05 promises of better jobs and economic
151:07 

151:07 prosperity
151:08 

151:08 hasn't also panned out in those cities
151:10 

151:10 and like us
151:12 

151:12 they have not been resilient to various
151:14 

151:14 shocks and we have certainly had a fair
151:16 

151:16 share of these over the last few years
151:19 

151:19 and economics and constitution and
151:21 

151:21 livelihood aside
151:22 

151:22 it it really is the environmental aspect
151:25 

151:25 of this kind of built environment that
151:26 

151:26 should really concern us um climate
151:29 

151:29 change and the change of direction that
151:31 

151:31 we need to take
151:32 

151:32 in terms you know to be more resilient
151:34 

151:34 doesn't
151:35 

151:35 mean charging ahead with projects such
151:37 

151:37 as this
151:38 

151:38 and environmentalists have you know told
151:40 

151:40 us time and time again about this
151:43 

151:43 um and i guess just to end i want to end
151:46 

151:46 with a quote by
151:47 

151:47 amitabh ghosh who in his case the great
151:49 

151:49 derangement
151:50 

151:50 asks why the threat of climate change
151:52 

151:52 has elicited such a muted global
151:54 

151:54 response
151:55 

151:55 and generally speaks of the lack of
151:57 

151:57 pretty critical introspection
151:59 

151:59 and he says and i quote a colonial
152:02 

152:02 vision of the world in which proximity
152:04 

152:04 to water represents power and security
152:07 

152:07 mastery and conquest has now been
152:10 

152:10 incorporated into the very foundations
152:12 

152:12 of middle class patterns of living
152:14 

152:14 across the globe
152:15 

152:15 and for me this has this court and that
152:18 

152:18 piece in particular really sort of
152:20 

152:20 um captures
152:23 

152:23 what we have we have seen over the years
152:25 

152:25 in port city just in terms of our lack
152:27 

152:27 of engagement
152:28 

152:28 as citizens as practitioners where we
152:31 

152:31 kind of focus
152:32 

152:32 very on very certain things we look at
152:35 

152:35 the environment now we're looking at the
152:37 

152:37 economic bill but there are so many
152:39 

152:39 other issues as i mentioned before that
152:41 

152:41 predates this
152:42 

152:42 all will you know will be there in uh
152:44 

152:44 years to come
152:46 

152:46 so those are kind of the questions that
152:47 

152:47 i wanted to leave
152:49 

152:49 uh with today um so i guess yeah
152:51 

152:51 offering a
152:52 

152:52 slightly different perspective and
152:54 

152:54 moving away a little bit from the bill
152:56 

152:56 thanks um
152:60 

152:60 thank you so much um miss pereira for
153:02 

153:02 that insight
153:03 

153:03 and for also raising these questions
153:05 

153:05 which as you as you said we haven't
153:07 

153:07 really heard a lot of
153:09 

153:09 uh going back to some of the things that
153:11 

153:11 were discussed today
153:13 

153:13 there was there's definitely been this
153:14 

153:14 conversation as to whether
153:16 

153:16 you know the benefits of port city are
153:19 

153:19 going to be translated meaningfully to
153:21 

153:21 the rest of the country
153:22 

153:22 even when you look at things like the
153:24 

153:24 the regulatory easing that's happening
153:27 

153:27 within port city
153:28 

153:28 that is being linked to things like easy
153:31 

153:31 doing a business
153:32 

153:32 better investment etc um
153:35 

153:35 yes it will set a good precedent you
153:37 

153:37 know for the rest of the country but the
153:39 

153:39 but then that also begets the question
153:41 

153:41 as to why it's not also happening in the
153:42 

153:42 rest of the country
153:44 

153:44 uh and this is something that has been
153:47 

153:47 discussed quite a lot today
153:48 

153:48 so thank you for bringing and these
153:50 

153:50 additional points to those
153:52 

153:52 to that to that question um
153:56 

153:56 hironi do we have any update on what's
153:57 

153:57 happening in part
153:59 

153:59 not so far as far as we know some of the
154:01 

154:01 amendments are being rejected
154:03 

154:03 while they're still debating on the
154:05 

154:05 amendments whether to accept them
154:06 

154:06 or not all right well it looks like we
154:09 

154:09 have
154:10 

154:10 an interesting evening ahead of us um so
154:13 

154:13 miss pereira thank you so much for
154:14 

154:14 joining us
154:16 

154:16 it was very much appreciated and we will
154:19 

154:19 now maybe take a quick break
154:21 

154:21 and tune into parliament and see what's
154:29 

154:29 happening
155:01 

155:01 [Applause]
155:03 

155:03 [Music]
155:11 

155:11 hey
155:32 

155:32 [Applause]
155:39 

155:39 [Music]
155:53 

155:53 so
156:07 

156:07 good
156:21 

156:21 uh
156:40 

156:40 hello everyone so
156:44 

156:44 one second
156:49 

156:49 hello everyone so it appears that
156:51 

156:51 parliament is still in the process of
156:53 

156:53 making a decision
156:55 

156:55 but not to worry we have another expert
156:57 

156:57 online with us today
156:59 

156:59 mr rohan masako uh hironi could you do a
157:02 

157:02 quick introduction
157:04 

157:04 to mr massachu before we jump into
157:06 

157:06 conversation
157:07 

157:07 yes so mr rohan he's a ceo of strippers
157:11 

157:11 academic colombo
157:13 

157:13 he's also the director general of sri
157:15 

157:15 lanka association of manufacturers
157:17 

157:17 and exporters of rubber products we're
157:20 

157:20 very pleased to have you with us today
157:24 

157:24 hi yes can you hear me yes we can hear
157:28 

157:28 you
157:29 

157:29 thank you so um right there right at the
157:34 

157:34 end of the decision today you know
157:37 

157:37 hopefully in the next hour or so we will
157:39 

157:39 know what's happening
157:41 

157:41 what is your outlook on this
157:44 

157:44 well yes i've been watching the
157:46 

157:46 parliamentary proceedings so it's
157:48 

157:48 been passed generally
157:52 

157:52 submissions are being taken so we don't
157:55 

157:55 know what's the outcome of the final
157:56 

157:56 document is going to be
157:58 

157:58 uh but overall the bill is seems to have
158:01 

158:01 been
158:01 

158:01 passed uh by honor i would agree with
158:05 

158:05 some of the speakers whom i was
158:06 

158:06 listening to you earlier that it's
158:08 

158:08 not on a national policy level but this
158:11 

158:11 is totally partisan based
158:13 

158:13 decision in parliament so we cannot we
158:15 

158:15 we need to discuss policy
158:18 

158:18 uh outside of the parliament as people
158:22 

158:22 obviously the parliamentarians are
158:23 

158:23 divided on party lines
158:25 

158:25 uh that is what i see when it comes to
158:27 

158:27 the election research
158:29 

158:29 uh i'm i look at it from a point of view
158:32 

158:32 i've listened to all the
158:34 

158:34 almost all the speakers seems that we
158:35 

158:35 have all different different ideas but
158:38 

158:38 we all
158:39 

158:39 want this piece of land that is real
158:42 

158:42 estate
158:43 

158:43 to be such a sorry successful to
158:47 

158:47 our country but i do have my own
158:49 

158:49 skeptical
158:51 

158:51 reasons of
158:54 

158:54 not so confidence in the way we have
158:58 

158:58 come to the stage of this act first of
158:60 

158:60 all the consultation procedure
159:02 

159:02 we should have international national
159:04 

159:04 consensus building
159:05 

159:05 piece of document because it has
159:08 

159:08 a lot of ramifications both can be
159:11 

159:11 positive and negative to sri lanka and
159:13 

159:13 we know enough 99 years
159:17 

159:17 only this project or the laws
159:22 

159:22 trajectory lane with the chinese
159:25 

159:25 investment company
159:27 

159:27 so none of us are going to be around
159:28 

159:28 then so that's why i always say we have
159:30 

159:30 to give a lot of thought
159:32 

159:32 for this kind of uh legality being
159:35 

159:35 brought into the
159:36 

159:36 country uh now i come from
159:39 

159:39 a logistics background but i would like
159:43 

159:43 to
159:43 

159:43 mention that if i was an investor i
159:47 

159:47 would first look at
159:48 

159:48 not port city or cartonic investment
159:51 

159:51 zone of sri lanka
159:54 

159:54 out there i would first look at
159:57 

159:57 what is and where sri lanka stands today
160:01 

160:01 well what is it what is our country risk
160:06 

160:06 what is our credit ratings
160:09 

160:09 what is our rule of law in this country
160:13 

160:13 how does politicians behave in terms of
160:15 

160:15 policy consistency
160:17 

160:17 what is our international relations what
160:20 

160:20 is our corruption index what is our
160:22 

160:22 doing business index
160:24 

160:24 that is sri lanka this particular place
160:26 

160:26 of
160:27 

160:27 economic zone is number two for our
160:30 

160:30 investor so they will look at the
160:31 

160:31 overall geopolitical
160:33 

160:33 atmosphere in sri lanka and
160:36 

160:36 i think we are not repairing that part
160:38 

160:38 of the story
160:40 

160:40 so we are trying to have one side of the
160:43 

160:43 gall face screen having
160:47 

160:47 trying to achieve doing business within
160:49 

160:49 the top ten
160:51 

160:51 and on the right side we are still at
160:52 

160:52 the top hundred or worse hundred
160:55 

160:55 whatever you call it uh so we have a
160:59 

160:59 like one side a flat tire and another
161:01 

161:01 side
161:02 

161:02 fully blown tyre and so we're trying to
161:05 

161:05 bring in
161:06 

161:06 global brands into sri lanka so i don't
161:08 

161:08 want to be
161:09 

161:09 so skeptical let them decide i am not
161:11 

161:11 going to be deciding we'll have to see
161:12 

161:12 it
161:13 

161:13 over a period i
161:17 

161:17 i also feel that although the law is
161:20 

161:20 passed today
161:21 

161:21 the lawmakers will have to sit again and
161:23 

161:23 look at evolving some of the laws again
161:26 

161:26 uh because i see problems i am not a fan
161:28 

161:28 of the tax benefits that given to the
161:31 

161:31 you went to the old city and then the
161:35 

161:35 other side of this
161:36 

161:36 office brings similar services like
161:39 

161:39 moses
161:39 

161:39 also mentioned similar services will
161:42 

161:42 have a different kind of
161:43 

161:43 environment so whether we
161:47 

161:47 are giving the right signal as a country
161:48 

161:48 because we are sometimes comparing dubai
161:50 

161:50 and singapore
161:52 

161:52 uh we can't compare their city-states
161:54 

161:54 the whole country is kind of
161:55 

161:55 talk within the top 110 of the world
161:58 

161:58 with doing business
161:60 

161:60 logistics rankings etc etc not only
162:03 

162:03 not only on their free ports so you get
162:06 

162:06 you have to compare something apple to
162:09 

162:09 apple
162:10 

162:10 you're not but yes this is a start
162:13 

162:13 now i think when dhananath asked me to
162:15 

162:15 talk about
162:16 

162:16 the second act i represent logistics um
162:19 

162:19 whether international logistics
162:20 

162:20 companies
162:22 

162:22 representing top global brands would
162:25 

162:25 reposition from singapore
162:27 

162:27 to colombo and dubai to colombo
162:30 

162:30 i'd have a great doubt they will wait
162:32 

162:32 for a long time
162:34 

162:34 one reason is our mainland laws for
162:38 

162:38 logistics companies are protectionism
162:41 

162:41 so their business part of their business
162:43 

162:43 is under protectionism and
162:45 

162:45 here the government wants their
162:46 

162:46 financial transactions
162:48 

162:48 and it got operations to come to the
162:50 

162:50 other side of the world face green and
162:51 

162:51 operate
162:53 

162:53 through them which i i doubt
162:55 

162:55 specifically in the logistics sector
162:57 

162:57 uh because i know for a matter of fact
162:60 

162:60 the
162:60 

163:00 south asia head office of
163:03 

163:03 dhl global which is one of the top
163:05 

163:05 logistics companies in the world
163:07 

163:07 is situated in singapore we all in south
163:10 

163:10 asia should be shameful
163:11 

163:11 of ourselves that is the level of
163:13 

163:13 confidence we have in south asia
163:15 

163:15 so i doubt they are going to come
163:18 

163:18 tomorrow and start investing here
163:21 

163:21 but i would like to give the benefit of
163:24 

163:24 the doubt
163:25 

163:25 for the law to take over and see how it
163:27 

163:27 evolves
163:28 

163:28 because already i see a lot of lot more
163:30 

163:30 infrastructure has to be done although
163:32 

163:32 the law has been passed
163:34 

163:34 the government of sri lanka has to do a
163:35 

163:35 lot of projects the building the
163:37 

163:37 connecting
163:37 

163:37 highway networks to the port city the
163:40 

163:40 garbage
163:41 

163:41 the the water systems
163:44 

163:44 the the electricity all these
163:45 

163:45 infrastructure has to be
163:47 

163:47 built by i think our government's
163:49 

163:49 expense that is our taxpayers expense
163:52 

163:52 and that is why i said if you're not
163:54 

163:54 going to get any tax revenue out of this
163:57 

163:57 location i see that flat tire on the
163:59 

163:59 other side of the story
164:02 

164:02 which which is which is uh not good and
164:04 

164:04 this is not a model that
164:05 

164:05 is operating in other hubs as far as i
164:08 

164:08 know
164:08 

164:08 uh singapore uh is different dubai is
164:12 

164:12 different
164:13 

164:13 uh and i also see that when you support
164:16 

164:16 city
164:16 

164:16 both singapore and um dubai
164:19 

164:19 with its hub port alongside the hub port
164:23 

164:23 they have massive areas for free zones
164:25 

164:25 for cargo movement
164:27 

164:27 instead of that what we have done is no
164:29 

164:29 free zone no connectivity
164:31 

164:31 in the in the immediate areas for large
164:34 

164:34 areas of about 100 hectares for
164:37 

164:37 international logistics companies to set
164:39 

164:39 up warehouses we have to go hinterland
164:42 

164:42 whereas we are putting next to the port
164:43 

164:43 is a financial city and a
164:45 

164:45 kind of a green city and apartments so
164:48 

164:48 business of
164:48 

164:48 free zone related activity also are not
164:51 

164:51 very very practical here
164:53 

164:53 so we will have to re-look at new places
164:56 

164:56 out of port of colombo which is going to
164:58 

164:58 be complete in competition wise
165:00 

165:00 the negative factor was so if somebody
165:03 

165:03 asked me
165:03 

165:03 uh the logistics companies are going to
165:06 

165:06 now come to sri lanka running after
165:08 

165:08 leaving dubai and abu dhabi and qatar
165:11 

165:11 and
165:12 

165:12 singapore and also malaysia
165:15 

165:15 i would say we'll have to wait and see
165:16 

165:16 that's my position in
165:18 

165:18 terms of the logistics companies but uh
165:21 

165:21 i would give time i think given all the
165:24 

165:24 concerns and the
165:26 

165:26 positive sides talking today by the
165:28 

165:28 speakers
165:30 

165:30 i also want this place to succeed but i
165:32 

165:32 don't see the legal
165:34 

165:34 environment this tested
165:37 

165:37 so we will have to see who's going to
165:39 

165:39 come what kind of brands are going to
165:40 

165:40 come because we don't want
165:42 

165:42 this country to be a money laundering
165:43 

165:43 place for some
165:45 

165:45 unknown people we want top global brands
165:48 

165:48 giving thumbs up tomorrow in the world
165:50 

165:50 business markets
165:51 

165:51 uh world news headings the top companies
165:54 

165:54 are looking at sri lanka now with the
165:55 

165:55 sports city
165:56 

165:56 bill if i hear that and their investors
165:59 

165:59 their
165:59 

165:59 research teams are coming and looking at
166:01 

166:01 and in the world markets it's discussed
166:04 

166:04 yes i'm happy for that but i don't think
166:06 

166:06 we have done that homework we just come
166:08 

166:08 out with this
166:10 

166:10 piece of legislation without much
166:12 

166:12 discussion from
166:15 

166:15 previous speaker said with the community
166:17 

166:17 and
166:18 

166:18 businesses over in sri lanka it's been
166:20 

166:20 done in closed doors and
166:23 

166:23 and it's done in opposition from
166:25 

166:25 opposition
166:26 

166:26 so we have challenges uh but i wish
166:30 

166:30 uh we have to move forward because we
166:32 

166:32 have a valuable piece of asset
166:34 

166:34 uh next to the golf green so that is my
166:38 

166:38 overall thinking of this uh whole
166:42 

166:42 project
166:46 

166:46 um thank you very much mr masako
166:50 

166:50 for that insight um we will now
166:53 

166:53 shift briefly into parliament and see
166:56 

166:56 what is happening
166:57 

166:57 and then we will have a few more experts
167:00 

167:00 joining on to weigh in
167:02 

167:02 until we hear back from parliament on
167:05 

167:05 the
167:44 

167:44 we are opposed to that but exactly the
167:46 

167:46 same thing in
167:51 

167:51 [Music]
168:25 

168:25 delete line 37 and substitute the
168:28 

168:28 following
168:29 

168:29 with an inverted comma as set out
168:33 

168:33 in subsection within bracket one comma
168:36 

168:36 to be taken out of the area
168:40 

168:40 of close inward and comma
168:43 

168:43 thank
168:57 

168:57 foreign
169:11 

169:11 foreign
169:20 

169:20 [Music]
169:26 

169:26 page 41 clause 45
169:29 

169:29 delete line 4 and substitute the
169:32 

169:32 following
169:34 

169:34 within invert cancellation of licenses
169:37 

169:37 comma the offshore banking business
169:41 

169:41 command reserve and capital requirements
169:44 

169:44 come up reserve close inward and come up
169:53 

169:53 soon
170:07 

170:07 um
170:12 

170:12 good evening ladies and gentlemen uh i
170:15 

170:15 hope you guys are still on track
170:16 

170:16 following the parliament
170:18 

170:18 uh there was a lot of interesting things
170:20 

170:20 happening a lot of interesting
170:22 

170:22 amendments and debates
170:24 

170:24 breaking out uh so i hope you guys are
170:26 

170:26 following and also following our
170:27 

170:27 commentary
170:28 

170:28 so once again uh if you have any
170:30 

170:30 comments if you have any
170:32 

170:32 uh questions that you would like to ask
170:34 

170:34 our experts
170:35 

170:35 please put it down on our on on the
170:37 

170:37 comment section so that we know we can
170:39 

170:39 take it up
170:40 

170:40 uh with this extremely uh
170:43 

170:43 extremely important extremely
170:45 

170:45 knowledgeable panel of experts that have
170:47 

170:47 lined up for you
170:48 

170:48 this evening uh once again a very warm
170:50 

170:50 welcome
170:51 

170:51 uh stay with us uh hironi what what do
170:54 

170:54 you think
170:55 

170:55 is happening now and then uh what what
170:57 

170:57 what you know what's your observation
170:59 

170:59 what do you think is the trajectory that
171:00 

171:00 this bill is going to take
171:02 

171:02 uh i think it's very difficult to tell
171:04 

171:04 the manga but depending on the
171:05 

171:05 votes that are already coming for the
171:07 

171:07 secondary thing of the portable
171:09 

171:09 we can see that there's a majority like
171:11 

171:11 a majority are in favor of the positive
171:13 

171:13 bill
171:13 

171:13 so i don't think it will be very
171:15 

171:15 difficult to pass this bill
171:17 

171:17 once the members are pretty much you
171:19 

171:19 know done
171:20 

171:20 i also think uh the amendments that were
171:23 

171:23 proposed by the opposition is you know
171:25 

171:25 being thrown around in sixers and
171:27 

171:27 battered uh
171:29 

171:29 towards you know you know is not you
171:31 

171:31 know is
171:32 

171:32 failing on it all and over and over
171:34 

171:34 again so that's another
171:36 

171:36 observation i believe uh that that one
171:39 

171:39 should uh make note of
171:41 

171:41 uh now ladies and gentlemen we have two
171:43 

171:43 interesting personalities
171:45 

171:45 uh i would say uh leaders uh of of
171:48 

171:48 of sri lanka or future leaders of sri
171:50 

171:50 lanka joining us
171:51 

171:51 uh hironi would you like to introduce
171:55 

171:55 our panel of experts so we have two very
171:57 

171:57 interesting
171:58 

171:58 uh guests who are in the lineup today uh
172:01 

172:01 the first uh
172:03 

172:03 panelist will be miss leeny fernando
172:05 

172:05 she's anthony at law
172:06 

172:06 and she's also the founding partner of
172:09 

172:09 wellogg's legal
172:10 

172:10 she's a council member of monitor
172:12 

172:12 municipal council and she is also
172:14 

172:14 a wim gold award winner we're very
172:17 

172:17 pleased to have you with us here today
172:19 

172:19 and as a young politician we're very
172:21 

172:21 interested to know your perspectives on
172:23 

172:23 the quote studio
172:24 

172:24 so remember what you want to ask her uh
172:26 

172:26 lenny how are you doing this evening
172:28 

172:28 and what's your reading so far thank you
172:31 

172:31 uh it's been an interesting evening been
172:33 

172:33 watching the
172:34 

172:34 parliamentary debates live that has been
172:35 

172:35 going on and the firefighting debates uh
172:39 

172:39 thrown at each other and some salient
172:41 

172:41 features syrian points that are being
172:42 

172:42 brought up which are
172:44 

172:44 very varied i would say looking at from
172:46 

172:46 the country the future of the country
172:48 

172:48 safeguarding the sovereignty of the
172:50 

172:50 country uh
172:51 

172:51 which is that i think we are at
172:53 

172:53 crossroads i would say in terms of
172:55 

172:55 the future of this country today it's
172:57 

172:57 like a turning point
173:01 

173:01 thank you uh let's let's quickly uh get
173:03 

173:03 melinda melinda how are you doing this
173:05 

173:05 evening and then what's your reading
173:08 

173:08 do you agree with uh lehini or you know
173:10 

173:10 what what are your reservations
173:22 

173:22 i think maybe he's not on the call yet i
173:24 

173:24 think there's a slight delay
173:26 

173:26 in getting you connected all right
173:30 

173:30 that's fine we'll just direct our
173:31 

173:31 questions towards miss leaning
173:34 

173:34 as a woman uh leader yourself
173:39 

173:39 in the letter that advocated institute
173:41 

173:41 actually submitted to the parliament
173:44 

173:44 to be considered during the second the
173:46 

173:46 course of the debates was the fact that
173:48 

173:48 was the fact that it should at least
173:50 

173:50 have one to two female representatives
173:53 

173:53 within the economic commission
173:55 

173:55 so uh this was not something which was
173:57 

173:57 actually brought up during
173:59 

173:59 any course of the parliamentary debates
174:02 

174:02 that has been ongoing so far
174:03 

174:03 so as a woman yourself what do you think
174:05 

174:05 about this do you think
174:07 

174:07 uh a proposal like this is something
174:09 

174:09 that is
174:10 

174:10 valid and something that should be
174:12 

174:12 considered
174:13 

174:13 yeah so certainly it will be uh it will
174:15 

174:15 be ideal if they can have females in
174:17 

174:17 this country
174:18 

174:18 but prior to that my females in the
174:20 

174:20 commission
174:21 

174:21 which i think plays a significant role
174:24 

174:24 because given that they are 52 percent
174:26 

174:26 their voice needs to be heard
174:27 

174:27 but more than that what alarms me most
174:29 

174:29 is that the constitution the composition
174:32 

174:32 of the commission right it directs it
174:35 

174:35 doesn't say that it has to be sri
174:36 

174:36 lankans per se
174:38 

174:38 uh because uh anybody even foreigners
174:40 

174:40 could be part of this commission and i
174:41 

174:41 think the supreme court has ruled in
174:43 

174:43 and said that there needs to be sri
174:45 

174:45 lankans in this commission
174:46 

174:46 i think one of the key factors that the
174:49 

174:49 jana balavega has proposed is that this
174:51 

174:51 then it's the extrovertion
174:52 

174:52 members uh the the the
174:56 

174:56 central bank governor then the boi
174:58 

174:58 chairman the udh chairman the ministry
174:60 

174:60 of finance the central environment
175:02 

175:02 authority
175:02 

175:02 one of the representatives has to be
175:04 

175:04 there there needs to be a
175:06 

175:06 composition of ex-officio members and
175:08 

175:08 also they have proposed that the
175:10 

175:10 compensation be increased from seven to
175:12 

175:12 nine and uh
175:13 

175:13 the one of the alarming factors is that
175:16 

175:16 the central the control that is vested
175:18 

175:18 with this particular individual called
175:19 

175:19 the president
175:20 

175:20 and he having the ability uh the
175:22 

175:22 discretion in appointing this individual
175:24 

175:24 is rather detrimental to the country
175:27 

175:27 because we call sri lanka as asia's
175:30 

175:30 oldest democracy
175:32 

175:32 so and we want to make sure that the
175:33 

175:33 democratic framework in this country is
175:35 

175:35 always maintained at every point
175:37 

175:37 so giving a person called the president
175:40 

175:40 it can be anybody it can be this
175:41 

175:41 particular either it can be another
175:42 

175:42 leader that
175:43 

175:43 that comes another 10 to 15 years having
175:45 

175:45 uh enormous power concentrated on a
175:48 

175:48 person called
175:48 

175:48 president is detrimental uh that's why
175:51 

175:51 we've proposed that uh
175:53 

175:53 certain members should be automatically
175:55 

175:55 be part of this particular commission
175:57 

175:57 while
175:57 

175:57 uh ensuring that the three people with
175:60 

175:60 the conservative
176:01 

176:01 consultation of the parliament be
176:03 

176:03 appointed now i understand
176:05 

176:05 i understand that it is important that
176:09 

176:09 there is autonomy in this commission but
176:10 

176:10 at the very same time
176:12 

176:12 one must ensure that there is control
176:14 

176:14 linked to the central government
176:16 

176:16 uh so that there is control between the
176:18 

176:18 central government and also control
176:20 

176:20 within the parliament
176:22 

176:22 because giving enormous authority to a
176:24 

176:24 commission to make this
176:25 

176:25 decision is rather detrimental for the
176:28 

176:28 country
176:29 

176:29 uh looking at it in any way
176:36 

176:36 baxter sir we very warmly welcome you uh
176:39 

176:39 how are you doing this evening
176:40 

176:40 and uh can you can you give us uh your
176:43 

176:43 comments your analysis and and
176:45 

176:45 and and on the on the on the bill uh and
176:47 

176:47 then also on the proceedings that are
176:49 

176:49 taking place this evening
176:52 

176:52 uh thank you very much for having us
176:55 

176:55 [Music]
176:56 

176:56 in in this new idea
176:60 

176:60 uh i was i was thinking uh
177:03 

177:03 uh would have been very nice to have
177:05 

177:05 this conversation even if we
177:08 

177:08 had this facility during the 20th
177:10 

177:10 amendment but however
177:12 

177:12 looking at what happened during the last
177:14 

177:14 two days of the parliament
177:16 

177:16 and 10 minutes ago the
177:20 

177:20 the voting has taken and the decision
177:22 

177:22 has been made
177:24 

177:24 uh i think looking at the the debate
177:28 

177:28 uh within the parliament and also
177:31 

177:31 outside the parliament among the civil
177:33 

177:33 societies among the business community
177:35 

177:35 sri lanka had made a massive decision
177:40 

177:40 this is not only an economical policy
177:42 

177:42 decision but this is also a
177:43 

177:43 socio-political
177:45 

177:45 decision which any government would have
177:48 

177:48 had to make
177:50 

177:50 we made that decision today in the
177:53 

177:53 parliament
177:54 

177:54 if sadiq premadasi came to power as very
177:57 

177:57 clearly and magnificently mentioned in
177:59 

177:59 his policy manifesto
178:01 

178:01 even they would have done the same and
178:03 

178:03 they would have had
178:04 

178:04 a very different argument today about
178:08 

178:08 implementation of the different
178:10 

178:10 legislatives
178:11 

178:11 in the port city and other stakeholders
178:14 

178:14 who are
178:15 

178:15 affecting future of the uh port city
178:19 

178:19 so look at looking at the debate during
178:22 

178:22 the last two days
178:23 

178:23 i think it's a it's a it's a
178:25 

178:25 considerably a
178:26 

178:26 a good debate both the
178:30 

178:30 parties had some
178:33 

178:33 excellent suggestions we use
178:36 

178:36 different dimensions
178:40 

178:40 of looking at this new experience for
178:43 

178:43 the country this is
178:44 

178:44 not only just a physical place but this
178:47 

178:47 is going to be an experience
178:49 

178:49 different experience for different
178:51 

178:51 sectors of this country from
178:53 

178:53 a plumber to probably a big-time ceos to
178:59 

178:59 politicians to uh investors is going to
179:02 

179:02 be a new experience
179:04 

179:04 so i think it was a considerably a good
179:06 

179:06 debate
179:07 

179:07 a good uh good talking points good views
179:10 

179:10 good suggestions
179:12 

179:12 uh uh but the same people who
179:16 

179:16 talked in a very different manner about
179:18 

179:18 the port city
179:20 

179:20 had very different opinions now in the
179:22 

179:22 parliament about the port city
179:24 

179:24 and the legislations but that is how
179:27 

179:27 politics work
179:29 

179:29 but i think challenge starts now uh
179:32 

179:32 challenge was not to pass this in the
179:34 

179:34 parliament knowing
179:35 

179:35 uh the power imbalance or the power
179:38 

179:38 balancing the parliament
179:39 

179:39 i think the real challenge starts now
179:41 

179:41 how uh
179:43 

179:43 raja paksha government slpp led
179:46 

179:46 government
179:47 

179:47 is going to manage
179:50 

179:50 the future of the port city while
179:53 

179:53 holding on to other regulations
179:56 

179:56 and way of running the country in rest
179:58 

179:58 of west
179:59 

179:59 in rest of the country so that is going
180:02 

180:02 to be the
180:03 

180:03 biggest challenge now we know it is a
180:06 

180:06 piece of paper
180:07 

180:07 which allows many things to happen but
180:10 

180:10 when you
180:10 

180:10 start seeing things happen buildings
180:13 

180:13 comes up
180:14 

180:14 what else comes up other investment
180:16 

180:16 comes up so
180:17 

180:17 then there will be another whole level
180:20 

180:20 of debate in this country
180:22 

180:22 about the development model about the
180:26 

180:26 environment about tax
180:29 

180:29 about financial regulation so that is
180:32 

180:32 what going to be
180:34 

180:34 interesting more than actually what
180:35 

180:35 happened during the last two days
180:41 

180:41 uh now uh lenny uh the sjb has
180:44 

180:44 has uh made made eight amendments is it
180:47 

180:47 eight amendments
180:49 

180:49 has proposed eight amendments uh what's
180:52 

180:52 your stance on that
180:53 

180:53 uh and and why do you think these
180:56 

180:56 amendments are important
180:57 

180:57 and i would like to know from melinda as
180:59 

180:59 to uh
181:01 

181:01 as to as to you know the bill in its
181:03 

181:03 existing
181:04 

181:04 form are you are you satisfied that this
181:07 

181:07 is
181:07 

181:07 uh the best workaround that we can give
181:09 

181:09 to corporate sri lanka
181:10 

181:10 so let's start with linny so uh let me
181:13 

181:13 correct uh
181:14 

181:14 a little bit what verizon said here yes
181:17 

181:17 if hcb was in power
181:20 

181:20 but not in its present form but uh the
181:22 

181:22 context of the bill would have been very
181:24 

181:24 different
181:25 

181:25 because uh if estrella as a party
181:28 

181:28 will would not have gone to sacrificing
181:30 

181:30 the sovereignty of the country by any
181:32 

181:32 means
181:33 

181:33 because they would have looked at looked
181:34 

181:34 in safeguarding the central control
181:37 

181:37 uh that the uh that the country would
181:39 

181:39 have in terms of the port city
181:41 

181:41 but uh if i'm to say some of the key uh
181:44 

181:44 amendments that were suggested
181:45 

181:45 which i mentioned earlier also the
181:47 

181:47 composition of this commission
181:49 

181:49 uh the where the foreigners being in the
181:52 

181:52 president having the discretion
181:54 

181:54 or appointing anybody to the commission
181:56 

181:56 is very detrimental
181:57 

181:57 we would have gone ahead and suggested
181:59 

181:59 that ex-officio members like
182:01 

182:01 the central bank governor the doi
182:03 

182:03 chairman the central environment
182:04 

182:04 authority one of the secretaries
182:06 

182:06 then the ministry of finance uda all be
182:08 

182:08 present and that they will be a part of
182:11 

182:11 the
182:11 

182:11 commission and also this commission will
182:13 

182:13 not have this many amount of enormous
182:15 

182:15 powers in terms of law making authority
182:17 

182:17 they will also have the control of the
182:19 

182:19 central government
182:20 

182:20 and uh one of the other things uh one of
182:23 

182:23 the other
182:23 

182:23 um suggestions that uh the the
182:27 

182:27 sjb has proposed is that this this
182:29 

182:29 particular commission that it should be
182:31 

182:31 in
182:31 

182:31 in line with article 154 of the
182:33 

182:33 constitution
182:34 

182:34 where it should be made a public
182:36 

182:36 corporation and not functioning
182:38 

182:38 like a like in per say as a company but
182:41 

182:41 more control with the central government
182:43 

182:43 now something which we know is that uh
182:45 

182:45 parliament has the control of public
182:47 

182:47 finance
182:48 

182:48 but in this particular port city bill uh
182:51 

182:51 the per the control of the finance is
182:53 

182:53 particularly given to the commission
182:54 

182:54 which is the detrimental and there is no
182:56 

182:56 auditor general
182:57 

182:57 that is the that is accountable there is
182:59 

182:59 no auditor general it's not mandatory
183:01 

183:01 that the auditor general audits this
183:02 

183:02 account but it can be
183:03 

183:03 even a foreign auditor so what is the
183:06 

183:06 control that the central government has
183:08 

183:08 then also in terms of if you talk to
183:10 

183:10 these offshore companies offshore
183:12 

183:12 companies
183:13 

183:13 are exempted uh from the regulatory
183:16 

183:16 framework within the country they
183:17 

183:17 exempted from the banking act
183:19 

183:19 from the company that so it pays me for
183:22 

183:22 money laundering activities
183:24 

183:24 uh terrorism terrorist finance
183:25 

183:25 activities uh
183:27 

183:27 uh like it it can even be turned turn
183:29 

183:29 out to be another seashells or a
183:31 

183:31 panama islands or a british virgin
183:33 

183:33 islands so this is you know
183:35 

183:35 it it can be even a tax haven so these
183:38 

183:38 are the dangers that this particular
183:40 

183:40 bill
183:40 

183:40 poses so if you are talking that this
183:43 

183:43 this is an economic center
183:44 

183:44 there needs to be direct benefit that
183:46 

183:46 comes to the central government
183:48 

183:48 but we see that uh the schedule two of
183:50 

183:50 this bill goes into exempting
183:52 

183:52 uh the uh activities of the port uh city
183:55 

183:55 from the england revenue act
183:57 

183:57 exchange control act the customs
183:58 

183:58 ordinance and various things
184:00 

184:00 so these are these are real grave
184:02 

184:02 situations that we must look at it from
184:05 

184:05 a more
184:05 

184:05 you know economic perspective yes we
184:07 

184:07 understand the fourth city is good for
184:09 

184:09 the country the poor city will
184:10 

184:10 definitely be
184:11 

184:11 an economic center that will definitely
184:13 

184:13 turn the economy around
184:15 

184:15 but it should have some control with the
184:17 

184:17 central government it can't be a
184:18 

184:18 particularly
184:19 

184:19 independent autonomy a autonomic
184:23 

184:23 place that operates in isolation without
184:25 

184:25 the control of the central government
184:27 

184:27 the policy framework is what we are
184:29 

184:29 actually questioning
184:31 

184:31 and one of the other key concerns is
184:33 

184:33 that when this bill went to the supreme
184:35 

184:35 court what the supreme court looked at
184:37 

184:37 is the constitutionality of the bill
184:40 

184:40 but the parliament per se has the
184:42 

184:42 responsibility to debate this
184:44 

184:44 from a more economic perspective from a
184:46 

184:46 business perspective
184:48 

184:48 from a policy perspective how it is
184:50 

184:50 going to impact the country in the long
184:51 

184:51 run
184:52 

184:52 so having uh having taken this debate in
184:55 

184:55 a rush
184:55 

184:55 being debated for for a days or two days
184:58 

184:58 uh without having consulted in
184:60 

184:60 committees and
185:01 

185:01 having it bringing it in such a rush in
185:03 

185:03 the middle of this pandemic is rather
185:05 

185:05 questionable so uh my one of my main
185:08 

185:08 concerns is this particular government
185:10 

185:10 having this patriotic agenda coming
185:12 

185:12 selling the whole patriotic agenda with
185:14 

185:14 this mcp
185:15 

185:15 at the mcc uh they're bringing saying
185:18 

185:18 they're
185:18 

185:18 talking about the mcc back then and
185:20 

185:20 coming and passing the sports city bill
185:22 

185:22 with such uh contradicting clauses is
185:25 

185:25 rather questionable
185:27 

185:27 to me and also to the citizens of this
185:29 

185:29 country
185:30 

185:30 which i think uh maybe uh even the youth
185:33 

185:33 in this country is also considering
185:35 

185:35 why the rush and why go to the extent of
185:38 

185:38 sacrificing the sovereignty of the
185:39 

185:39 country
185:42 

185:42 uh just uh we have an update let's let's
185:46 

185:46 let's quickly
185:47 

185:47 take a look at what's happening in
185:48 

185:48 parliament hironi can you let us know
185:49 

185:49 what's happening
185:50 

185:50 uh yeah as to what's happening in the
185:52 

185:52 parliament right now the close 63
185:55 

185:55 in the port state bill is currently
185:57 

185:57 being debated on
185:58 

185:58 both the government and the opposition
186:00 

186:00 are suggesting amendments regarding this
186:02 

186:02 clause
186:03 

186:03 um so yeah that's the update we have
186:06 

186:06 right right
186:07 

186:07 uh melinda uh i believe you have some uh
186:10 

186:10 right of replies that you would uh that
186:13 

186:13 that you could take here
186:14 

186:14 uh would you like to reply to lenny and
186:17 

186:17 on all on a few of those points and
186:19 

186:19 comments she made
186:21 

186:21 rather reply uh i would say
186:25 

186:25 uh not only i'm sure thousands or
186:28 

186:28 hundred thousand of people
186:30 

186:30 must be having same concerns same
186:32 

186:32 questions
186:33 

186:33 uh and uh thinking that
186:37 

186:37 probably is the worst thing happened to
186:38 

186:38 this country is the worst thing going to
186:40 

186:40 happen to this country
186:42 

186:42 but i would say sri lanka has came
186:45 

186:45 through
186:47 

186:47 very difficult times very difficult
186:49 

186:49 situations
186:50 

186:50 we have done very controversial things
186:52 

186:52 in this country
186:54 

186:54 from 1970 we made such economical
186:57 

186:57 decision
186:58 

186:58 1977 we made such economical decisions
187:02 

187:02 and sometimes we haven't made the
187:04 

187:04 correct decision
187:05 

187:05 and today we are in one of those
187:07 

187:07 junctions where we have to make the
187:08 

187:08 decision so if you
187:10 

187:10 ask me whether this form is in best form
187:14 

187:14 i would say actually no you know why we
187:16 

187:16 have to understand
187:18 

187:18 what is the objective of this port city
187:21 

187:21 why it was here why why sri lanka was
187:23 

187:23 selected
187:24 

187:24 oh why why why the investor thought sri
187:27 

187:27 lanka would be
187:28 

187:28 a better place to have this or why
187:30 

187:30 government of sri lanka at that time
187:32 

187:32 thought
187:33 

187:33 this is going to be good for the country
187:37 

187:37 i
187:38 

187:38 we all know very clearly this is a
187:40 

187:40 financial center
187:42 

187:42 uh this is going to be a place good for
187:44 

187:44 business this is going to be a place
187:46 

187:46 where
187:48 

187:48 investors who can't come to sri lanka
187:51 

187:51 with some of the rules and regulations
187:54 

187:54 uh has an opportunity to invest and
187:57 

187:57 start their business
187:58 

187:58 uh this will be a place where uh some
188:01 

188:01 investors
188:02 

188:02 can't go to uh some geological
188:06 

188:06 geographical places in this region but
188:10 

188:10 now they can come and do their
188:11 

188:11 investments here
188:15 

188:15 i think even now
188:18 

188:18 with some of these amendments this bill
188:22 

188:22 is making it less powerful
188:24 

188:24 you i i think i think understanding the
188:27 

188:27 objective
188:28 

188:28 this is not uh environmental uh
188:32 

188:32 related attack which we are putting for
188:34 

188:34 the whole country this is not another
188:36 

188:36 constitutional amendment which will
188:37 

188:37 affect the entire country
188:39 

188:39 we are making this law uh applicable to
188:42 

188:42 this small piece of land
188:43 

188:43 and the other objective is actually to
188:46 

188:46 make it
188:47 

188:47 easy for people to business to come and
188:49 

188:49 do business
188:50 

188:50 so we should have made it more liberal
188:53 

188:53 where people have no issue to come and
188:55 

188:55 do investments here
188:56 

188:56 uh i don't think this idea of whatever
188:59 

188:59 the
188:60 

189:00 private sector come and start put
189:02 

189:02 forward the government has to put their
189:04 

189:04 complete intervention into that
189:06 

189:06 government has to start putting tax on
189:09 

189:09 them from the very first day
189:10 

189:10 uh we are i think we don't have to go
189:13 

189:13 back to
189:13 

189:13 that mentality those kind of rules are
189:17 

189:17 already properly in place in sri lanka
189:19 

189:19 so this
189:20 

189:20 separate island was made not to
189:24 

189:24 uh not to go back to
189:27 

189:27 uh same concern same regulation this was
189:30 

189:30 made
189:31 

189:31 to make it a liberal open place so
189:34 

189:34 if you ask for me very personally i
189:36 

189:36 think we would have given more liberty
189:38 

189:38 more freedom into this bill and give
189:41 

189:41 more power to
189:42 

189:42 whatever the commission is appointed
189:44 

189:44 this is a country by central bank
189:46 

189:46 governor
189:47 

189:47 can be from uh any given country and if
189:50 

189:50 the central bank governor can be a
189:52 

189:52 singapore passport or british passport
189:55 

189:55 told
189:56 

189:56 now you are questioning why that small
189:57 

189:57 financial center
189:59 

189:59 can't has a commission uh which has uh
190:03 

190:03 dual citizens or citizens of another
190:05 

190:05 country
190:07 

190:07 so what we keep forgetting is the
190:09 

190:09 objective of putting this
190:10 

190:10 piece of land and we are going back to
190:13 

190:13 uh
190:14 

190:14 same mentality of government coming and
190:16 

190:16 scrutinizing everything
190:18 

190:18 putting barriers to everything uh
190:21 

190:21 putting
190:22 

190:22 uh uh unheard unknown
190:26 

190:26 concerns just for the political
190:29 

190:29 to create the political uh hahu around
190:33 

190:33 that
190:34 

190:34 i think i'm happy it was past life it is
190:37 

190:37 passing like this at least
190:40 

190:40 but yes would have been would have given
190:42 

190:42 more
190:43 

190:43 freedom and more flexibility into the
190:46 

190:46 brain
190:47 

190:47 uh thank you melinda uh and and thank
190:50 

190:50 you
190:51 

190:51 uh in the interest of time uh i have one
190:54 

190:54 final
190:54 

190:54 uh uh question and let's keep it as
190:58 

190:58 short as possible because our next
190:60 

190:60 speakers are already lined up
191:02 

191:02 uh my question is just answer it in one
191:05 

191:05 minute
191:05 

191:05 uh when you guys are in parliament would
191:08 

191:08 you like to do any improvements to the
191:09 

191:09 existing bill
191:12 

191:12 yes uh most certainly sjb has said that
191:16 

191:16 when they come into power they will meet
191:18 

191:18 certain factors in this year's to ensure
191:20 

191:20 that there is
191:20 

191:20 more control with the central government
191:22 

191:22 and there is not so much
191:24 

191:24 control granted to a particular a person
191:26 

191:26 called the commission and ensure that
191:28 

191:28 this is not a tax haven
191:29 

191:29 where people will have undue advantage
191:32 

191:32 but will reap the benefits to the
191:33 

191:33 country
191:34 

191:34 so yes they will definitely make certain
191:36 

191:36 changes uh in pubs
191:45 

191:45 the comment is over to you yeah uh
191:48 

191:48 we will be uh people will we will be
191:52 

191:52 here until people give us the mandate to
191:54 

191:54 do so
191:55 

191:55 so we are implementing people's mandate
191:57 

191:57 which what we
191:58 

191:58 are doing now so if so
192:04 

192:04 but but i am very confident that uh
192:06 

192:06 knowing
192:07 

192:07 uh the ideology of this and the
192:10 

192:10 uh party leaders of that party uh they
192:13 

192:13 will give more freedom more flexibility
192:16 

192:16 uh to this bill uh yes they will do
192:18 

192:18 those kind of amendments i'm very sure
192:21 

192:21 uh and i think even our government going
192:23 

192:23 forward
192:24 

192:24 time to time reviewing the global
192:27 

192:27 opportunities and the global threats
192:29 

192:29 we should review the bill and give more
192:32 

192:32 power more flexibility and more freedom
192:35 

192:35 thank you thank you it was an absolute
192:37 

192:37 pleasure having the both of you
192:39 

192:39 uh and and i'm thankful for the both of
192:42 

192:42 you to joining us
192:44 

192:44 thank you thank you uh
192:47 

192:47 what do you think is happening in
192:48 

192:48 parliament actually they're still
192:50 

192:50 debating on the amendments as to what
192:52 

192:52 you know there's a lot of
192:53 

192:53 heat around the amendments uh the
192:56 

192:56 opposition is proposing some the
192:57 

192:57 government is proposing some so let's
192:59 

192:59 have a quick change of scenario and go
193:02 

193:02 to the parliament debates and see what's
193:13 

193:13 happening
193:27 

193:27 oh
193:28 

193:28 [Applause]
193:41 

193:41 so
194:04 

194:04 he doesn't know
194:13 

194:13 [Music]
194:19 

194:19 [Music]
194:34 

194:34 we're back ladies and gentlemen i think
194:37 

194:37 parliament is still
194:38 

194:38 uh discussing amendments uh so we'll
194:41 

194:41 keep you
194:41 

194:41 we'll keep you lively updated on what
194:43 

194:43 these amendments are
194:45 

194:45 uh and and and as to you know what what
194:47 

194:47 what uh
194:48 

194:48 impact you still have on the final bill
194:51 

194:51 so so stay with us
194:52 

194:52 we have more uh live commentary
194:54 

194:54 happening uh hironi would you like to uh
194:57 

194:57 introduce the next uh speaker
195:00 

195:00 yes so i think it's a pleasure to have
195:02 

195:02 mr tulsi aloe vera
195:04 

195:04 here with us today he's the assistant
195:07 

195:07 managing director
195:08 

195:08 at chrc port city colombo he is as you
195:12 

195:12 all know the man of the hour
195:14 

195:14 he's the expert on the porcity and i
195:17 

195:17 think
195:18 

195:18 we are looking forward to have his input
195:20 

195:20 from him
195:21 

195:21 uh mr we have to start things off
195:25 

195:25 uh about the port city um
195:29 

195:29 why do you think that this will be
195:33 

195:33 this particular project that that will
195:36 

195:36 be capable of
195:37 

195:37 um taking sri lanka out of the current
195:41 

195:41 museum cup trap that we are kind of uh
195:43 

195:43 locked in right now
195:47 

195:47 um i don't think
195:50 

195:50 portuguese a panacea for
195:54 

195:54 all uh ills we have
195:57 

195:57 you know as i said uh for our country
196:01 

196:01 to be in the position where we are
196:04 

196:04 symptoms are quite evident for some time
196:08 

196:08 and obviously successive governments
196:11 

196:11 have failed
196:13 

196:13 to articulate a consistent business
196:16 

196:16 friendly
196:16 

196:16 policy environment taking the advantage
196:19 

196:19 of the location
196:20 

196:20 the talent you know there are positives
196:22 

196:22 that we can take the books
196:23 

196:23 so i don't think this is that right i
196:26 

196:26 think
196:27 

196:27 most definitely the portuguese
196:30 

196:30 development will
196:31 

196:31 support what is
196:34 

196:34 required or kickstart especially
196:40 

196:40 you know in a challenging environment
196:42 

196:42 like indirect investments
196:44 

196:44 globally decline by over 40 percent
196:47 

196:47 so it will really kick start uh
196:52 

196:52 it will be an impetus
196:57 

196:57 for the definitely don't think that this
196:60 

196:60 is going to kill
197:01 

197:01 or you know take us out of a lot of
197:03 

197:03 troubles
197:04 

197:04 uh that we are in at the moment
197:09 

197:09 thank you sir let's let's let's get to
197:10 

197:10 the bottom of what's happening
197:12 

197:12 so what's your outlook on the bill on
197:14 

197:14 the current status of the bill
197:16 

197:16 and as uh the the company that's
197:20 

197:20 that has built both city and that's
197:21 

197:21 looking to develop port city
197:23 

197:23 uh give us your comments and your
197:24 

197:24 analysis on on on on on
197:26 

197:26 on the bill that's uh being uh currently
197:28 

197:28 debated in parliament
197:32 

197:32 yes so actually this bill the piece of
197:34 

197:34 legislation
197:36 

197:36 has been in the making since 2017
197:41 

197:41 under the previous regime in fact
197:44 

197:44 it went through many rounds of drafts
197:48 

197:48 why is the chinese actually reclaimed
197:50 

197:50 2.7 square kilometer city
197:53 

197:53 and ready for investment uh i'm glad
197:56 

197:56 that
197:56 

197:56 hopefully the bill will uh get enacted
197:59 

197:59 today
197:60 

197:60 with delays right so from a timing
198:03 

198:03 perspective
198:04 

198:04 we completed reclamation in 2019
198:07 

198:07 jan ideally we would have been in
198:10 

198:10 a position to go out there and market uh
198:13 

198:13 port city
198:16 

198:16 better late than never obviously it's a
198:18 

198:18 progressive piece of legislation
198:21 

198:21 in my opinion and i think it is
198:24 

198:24 because this visa legislation has to act
198:27 

198:27 as a marketing tool
198:28 

198:28 for us to be able to talk to serious
198:32 

198:32 encouragements talk to serious
198:35 

198:35 developers investors
198:36 

198:36 to relocate or expand their business to
198:39 

198:39 sri lanka and i think
198:41 

198:41 the bill is quite progressive i think we
198:44 

198:44 are now
198:45 

198:45 we can really go and have those
198:47 

198:47 discussions with potential parties
198:48 

198:48 whereas before
198:50 

198:50 when we were doing what we call test uh
198:52 

198:52 some soft market testing
198:54 

198:54 right uh the response from the region
198:58 

198:58 globally to invest or set up their
199:01 

199:01 business in sri lanka
199:03 

199:03 was not so not not so good right so uh
199:06 

199:06 again the missing piece was this and i
199:08 

199:08 think we are in a very good position now
199:10 

199:10 to really go and
199:11 

199:11 talk to some of these big brands to look
199:14 

199:14 at sri lanka seriously
199:20 

199:20 so drawing on to those those same uh
199:22 

199:22 same sentiments that you brought out
199:24 

199:24 now uh on on the d on the on the
199:28 

199:28 regulatory environment
199:30 

199:30 do you i do believe that in our analysis
199:32 

199:32 uh
199:33 

199:33 you know the the the bill before the
199:35 

199:35 supreme court determination
199:37 

199:37 uh was a far more uh deregulated
199:41 

199:41 uh was there was a very deregulated
199:43 

199:43 environment
199:44 

199:44 are you happy with uh the uh the reduced
199:47 

199:47 deregulative framework do you think the
199:50 

199:50 port city has enough autonomy
199:52 

199:52 and delegated power uh to bring about
199:55 

199:55 you know massive uh investments and you
199:58 

199:58 know
199:59 

199:59 accelerate the investment process are
200:00 

200:00 you happy with the existing framework
200:03 

200:03 yeah i think you're right autonomy is
200:06 

200:06 quite important
200:07 

200:07 for the commission but also let me
200:10 

200:10 correct you
200:11 

200:11 the regulation or less regulation
200:16 

200:16 uh by the supreme court uh determination
200:20 

200:20 uh is not really the
200:24 

200:24 the what was that messaged what i'm
200:26 

200:26 trying to say is it was envisaged that
200:28 

200:28 there will be
200:28 

200:28 a one regulate apex regulator which is
200:32 

200:32 the commission
200:34 

200:34 it doesn't necessarily mean that
200:36 

200:36 commission being the regulator that
200:39 

200:39 the regulations would be more relaxed
200:41 

200:41 than the regulator
200:43 

200:43 let's assume in rest of sri lanka so
200:46 

200:46 that was not the
200:47 

200:47 determination determination actually
200:49 

200:49 what said was that
200:51 

200:51 you need the approval the decision of
200:54 

200:54 the regulator
200:55 

200:55 because in a democracy you cannot have
200:58 

200:58 two regulators so hence the
200:60 

201:00 existing regulators decision needs to be
201:03 

201:03 communicated
201:05 

201:05 to an applicant who wishes to do
201:08 

201:08 business
201:08 

201:08 within port city uh regulated business
201:12 

201:12 within port city so
201:15 

201:15 if you set aside the the
201:18 

201:18 constitutionality of
201:19 

201:19 it but purely from a commercial
201:21 

201:21 perspective if you ask me you know
201:24 

201:24 having
201:25 

201:25 now after the amendments according to
201:28 

201:28 the law commission can
201:30 

201:30 enforce these regulations however when
201:33 

201:33 they are developing these regulations
201:35 

201:35 they need to get the approval by the
201:38 

201:38 existing regulator so
201:40 

201:40 this means that there will be
201:44 

201:44 almost two regulators
201:48 

201:48 which means the commission has to get
201:50 

201:50 the concurrence or the decision of the
201:52 

201:52 existing regulator so that can
201:54 

201:54 in my opinion can cause
201:58 

201:58 issues when you operationalizing it
202:01 

202:01 right
202:02 

202:02 so if you ask me purely for commercial
202:04 

202:04 from commercial perspective we have just
202:06 

202:06 one apex body
202:09 

202:09 that would have been ideal but i
202:10 

202:10 understand we are in a democracy and
202:12 

202:12 then if it is not in line with the
202:13 

202:13 constitution
202:15 

202:15 we need to make those amendments so the
202:16 

202:16 thinking here is we hope that the
202:18 

202:18 commission will really still can play
202:21 

202:21 that
202:21 

202:21 single window investment facilitator
202:24 

202:24 role
202:25 

202:25 and deal expeditiously with the existing
202:28 

202:28 regulators
202:30 

202:30 and yes with the potential investors
202:33 

202:33 businesses who want to set up in colombo
202:36 

202:36 port city
202:38 

202:38 uh mr dosi al-bihar if i want to just
202:40 

202:40 jump in and ask you another question
202:42 

202:42 so with the amendments that were brought
202:44 

202:44 in by the supreme court determination
202:46 

202:46 are you still confident
202:48 

202:48 that the positive will be able to
202:49 

202:49 attract the same level of investors
202:51 

202:51 had it not been amended to the extent
202:54 

202:54 that it has
202:55 

202:55 yeah i think from all the amendments
202:58 

202:58 that was
203:01 

203:01 proposed
203:03 

203:03 only my only concern was this uh you
203:06 

203:06 know two regulators
203:08 

203:08 uh kind of that being operate
203:11 

203:11 operated within port city but as i said
203:14 

203:14 again
203:15 

203:15 if the commission can play a very
203:17 

203:17 efficient role in here
203:18 

203:18 and plug in between the regulator and
203:21 

203:21 the applicant or the business
203:23 

203:23 i think we can still get over that uh
203:26 

203:26 issue
203:27 

203:27 but overall yes i think the
203:30 

203:30 the bill asses with the amendments are
203:33 

203:33 still good
203:34 

203:34 enough for us to really have some of
203:36 

203:36 those serious discussions with
203:38 

203:38 potential see what we need to what we
203:41 

203:41 really need to
203:43 

203:43 realize is that there are there are
203:46 

203:46 investors are not very queuing up to
203:49 

203:49 come and invest in sri lanka okay
203:51 

203:51 there are alternate destinations and
203:53 

203:53 when they look to expand or when they
203:55 

203:55 look for investment
203:56 

203:56 to invest outward investments they will
203:59 

203:59 shortlist
204:01 

204:01 two or three other destinations and they
204:03 

204:03 will do their own due diligence
204:05 

204:05 so it is important that we try and
204:08 

204:08 compete
204:09 

204:09 with those other jurisdictions to try
204:11 

204:11 and attract the
204:12 

204:12 the capital and talent that we require
204:15 

204:15 for for for gtt to be a more lively
204:18 

204:18 uh export city comes to life really
204:23 

204:23 uh so on that regard let's assume that i
204:26 

204:26 was goldman sachs or
204:28 

204:28 jp morgan why uh tell me why would i
204:32 

204:32 want to invest
204:33 

204:33 uh in the port city what what's special
204:35 

204:35 about it and how are you going to make
204:37 

204:37 it
204:37 

204:37 uh the the the prominent destination
204:40 

204:40 in the whole of south asia or probably
204:42 

204:42 the asian region
204:43 

204:43 and uh what's what's the game plan
204:48 

204:48 yeah so in south asia
204:52 

204:52 in fact this is the only
204:56 

204:56 uh planned city
204:59 

204:59 development and there is a
205:03 

205:03 real estate angle to it right obviously
205:06 

205:06 any waterfront cities fetch higher
205:10 

205:10 real estate value values plus the appeal
205:12 

205:12 is much more
205:14 

205:14 so in that sense that is the really the
205:17 

205:17 hardware side of things and with
205:21 

205:21 very liberalized relaxed
205:25 

205:25 business friendly environment
205:29 

205:29 that is created by this bill i think
205:33 

205:33 we are definitely we will definitely
205:36 

205:36 be in a very good position to to attract
205:39 

205:39 some of those uh
205:40 

205:40 names that you just mentioned to come
205:42 

205:42 and make investment and
205:43 

205:43 uh uh and also what we need to realize
205:46 

205:46 is
205:47 

205:47 this bill is only a framework right
205:51 

205:51 there is so much needs to be done from
205:54 

205:54 here
205:56 

205:56 to operationalize further regulations
205:59 

205:59 needs to be drafted so once the bill is
206:01 

206:01 enacted
206:02 

206:02 the government uh or his excellency the
206:04 

206:04 president will appoint the commission i
206:06 

206:06 think the first task from day one would
206:08 

206:08 be to
206:09 

206:09 really uh draft the required regulations
206:13 

206:13 that is uh to to you know from
206:17 

206:17 application processes to specific
206:19 

206:19 offshore banking regulations offshore
206:22 

206:22 insurance
206:23 

206:23 company regulations all those needs to
206:25 

206:25 be drafted so
206:27 

206:27 there's a lot more work to be done
206:31 

206:31 so just just one more question now uh i
206:34 

206:34 uh the the the supreme court
206:36 

206:36 determination made certain
206:38 

206:38 uh you know cut back on on on on on the
206:41 

206:41 area of taxation
206:43 

206:43 and especially with regarding the
206:44 

206:44 strategic development
206:46 

206:46 what's your opinion of uh or do you how
206:49 

206:49 important do you think
206:51 

206:51 uh giving tax incentives and uh
206:55 

206:55 tax cut backs are to attract investments
206:57 

206:57 and are you going to inc
206:58 

206:58 and how would you incorporate it into
206:60 

206:60 your long-term strategy
207:02 

207:02 for the port city yeah
207:05 

207:05 see fiscal incentives
207:08 

207:08 is not the only thing an investor
207:12 

207:12 will look for right but
207:16 

207:16 our doing business indicators are quite
207:19 

207:19 poor
207:21 

207:21 so for you need to compensate for those
207:24 

207:24 so that's why
207:25 

207:25 historically if you look at our fbi
207:29 

207:29 track record right giving tax incentives
207:32 

207:32 have a direct correlation
207:34 

207:34 to attracting investment if you look at
207:36 

207:36 uh from 2016
207:40 

207:40 onwards uh the government suspended
207:44 

207:44 the stp and you can really see a
207:47 

207:47 significant drop
207:49 

207:49 in any new project ftis as a result
207:53 

207:53 so first to answer your question look if
207:56 

207:56 our doing business indicators
207:58 

207:58 are attractive then you don't really
208:00 

208:00 have to throw in so much of fiscal
208:02 

208:02 incentives
208:04 

208:04 in our case it is not so so you need to
208:06 

208:06 compensate the investors
208:08 

208:08 with throwing in some sweeteners like
208:10 

208:10 the tax incentives
208:11 

208:11 first second is that with the supreme
208:14 

208:14 court decision
208:15 

208:15 tax incentives are not courted
208:18 

208:18 you know it remains uh what is in the in
208:21 

208:21 the bill is just that the
208:23 

208:23 the procedure in which those incentives
208:26 

208:26 are granted have been amended
208:29 

208:29 which is which is fine you know that the
208:32 

208:32 broad regulations forming the criteria
208:36 

208:36 to be eligible to be a place before
208:38 

208:38 parliament and get into
208:39 

208:39 which is which is actually we are in
208:42 

208:42 favor of that
208:43 

208:43 because as a foreign investor
208:47 

208:47 before you really just you know come to
208:50 

208:50 come come down to
208:51 

208:51 the country they would like to remotely
208:53 

208:53 really review
208:55 

208:55 some of these incentives uh depending on
208:57 

208:57 what their
208:58 

208:58 investment is right they should not have
209:01 

209:01 to
209:01 

209:01 come and meet somebody and should not be
209:03 

209:03 at a discretion so that discretionary
209:05 

209:05 power have been taken away and we should
209:07 

209:07 be
209:08 

209:08 uh brought to regulation i think we are
209:11 

209:11 definitely
209:13 

209:13 in favor of and then one quick point i
209:15 

209:15 want to
209:16 

209:16 really emphasize here is what a lot of
209:18 

209:18 people are talking about
209:20 

209:20 this massive tax incentive right we are
209:23 

209:23 not
209:24 

209:24 this is incremental business
209:27 

209:27 right business was never there the land
209:29 

209:29 was never there
209:30 

209:30 right it was created using private
209:33 

209:33 investment
209:34 

209:34 right so that's one first point
209:38 

209:38 second point is that some may have also
209:40 

209:40 raised concern about a 40-year tax
209:42 

209:42 holiday now
209:43 

209:43 sdp under the scp
209:46 

209:46 you can give tax concessions up to 25
209:50 

209:50 years
209:51 

209:51 right none none of the projects thus far
209:54 

209:54 in sri lanka who were eligible for stp
209:58 

209:58 or enjoying those benefits
209:59 

209:59 got a 25-year tax holiday
210:03 

210:03 only a maximum of a 15-year tax zero
210:06 

210:06 taxes
210:07 

210:07 uh what was received by project so
210:11 

210:11 none received 25. so the point i'm
210:13 

210:13 trying to make is although the bill will
210:15 

210:15 say
210:15 

210:15 40 years right it doesn't necessarily
210:19 

210:19 mean that you will get a 40 year tax
210:21 

210:21 holiday but
210:22 

210:22 again as i said it also has to act as a
210:24 

210:24 marketing tool
210:26 

210:26 to attract some of these uh
210:29 

210:29 it's investors so discretion of the of
210:31 

210:31 the commission and i'm sure
210:33 

210:33 for somebody to enjoy a 40-year tax
210:35 

210:35 holiday there'll be a lot of criteria it
210:38 

210:38 has to be real
210:39 

210:39 they have to demonstrate there's a lot
210:40 

210:40 of strategic value uh
210:42 

210:42 economic social or otherwise for the
210:45 

210:45 country to enjoy those benefits
210:48 

210:48 uh yeah so as we wind up this session
210:50 

210:50 there's a quick update from the
210:52 

210:52 parliamentary beds
210:53 

210:53 so the word on the third reading is
210:55 

210:55 currently happening
210:57 

210:57 and we will be able to know what the
210:59 

210:59 result is
211:00 

211:00 in another few moments what do you
211:02 

211:02 remember uh
211:03 

211:03 thank you very much we we really look
211:05 

211:05 forward uh to what's happening in
211:08 

211:08 parliament
211:08 

211:08 uh and mr tulsi it was a absolute
211:10 

211:10 pleasure having you we have
211:12 

211:12 lots of questions but unfortunately in
211:14 

211:14 the interest of time
211:15 

211:15 we have to move on thank you very much
211:17 

211:17 sir for your time
211:18 

211:18 and uh and we wish you all the super
211:20 

211:20 best uh
211:22 

211:22 uh in your leadership at the colombo
211:24 

211:24 port city and we hope it becomes a
211:26 

211:26 resounding success
211:32 

211:32 uh uh ladies and gentlemen oh well
211:35 

211:35 shall we shall we go back to the
211:37 

211:37 parliamentary session and see what's
211:38 

211:38 happening
211:39 

211:39 yes yes with the third reading on the
211:41 

211:41 way i think that's the
211:42 

211:42 best option right now let's see what's
211:47 

211:47 [Music]
211:53 

211:53 happening
212:07 

212:07 okay
212:21 

212:21 oh okay
212:41 

212:41 [Applause]
212:45 

212:45 [Music]
213:05 

213:05 [Music]
213:31 

213:31 so
213:43 

213:43 all right well we're back uh it looks
213:45 

213:45 like the
213:47 

213:47 thing is still in process so we will
213:50 

213:50 have a bit more time before the final
213:52 

213:52 decision comes in
213:54 

213:54 but it looks like right now in the last
213:55 

213:55 last few probably the last half an hour
213:59 

213:59 hopefully the time we've all been
214:02 

214:02 waiting for
214:02 

214:02 100 100 um so we're
214:06 

214:06 coming at some very interesting
214:07 

214:07 conversations so far
214:09 

214:09 um and now i think we have online um
214:12 

214:12 mr milan peers who will be able to join
214:15 

214:15 in and weigh in on this conversation
214:17 

214:17 as well
214:22 

214:22 so we very warmly welcome you uh give us
214:25 

214:25 your tell us your insights as to what
214:27 

214:27 you think of the bill especially
214:28 

214:28 as someone who is part of corporate sri
214:30 

214:30 lanka who's led
214:31 

214:31 an organization uh so what what do you
214:34 

214:34 think the impact of this will be
214:35 

214:35 of this bill will be on on the future of
214:38 

214:38 investment
214:40 

214:40 thank you and uh thank you for hosting
214:43 

214:43 this discussion which i think is a
214:45 

214:45 very important one especially on the
214:47 

214:47 sidelines of a discussion which is
214:49 

214:49 you know in the parliamentary debate you
214:51 

214:51 hear a lot of
214:52 

214:52 uh thoughts being shared which sometimes
214:54 

214:54 are
214:55 

214:55 very relevant to the billion questions
214:57 

214:57 but also
214:58 

214:58 you have the broader context of politics
215:01 

215:01 being played and some of them
215:02 

215:02 appeal to the more emotional side of the
215:05 

215:05 audience as well as the
215:07 

215:07 members of parliament so i think i think
215:10 

215:10 we've had a
215:11 

215:11 line of speakers who share different
215:13 

215:13 opinions
215:14 

215:14 the the way that i'm looking at this i
215:17 

215:17 mean even though my
215:18 

215:18 personal interest may be behind the
215:20 

215:20 ideology of it i think if you
215:22 

215:22 step back because i have no expertise on
215:25 

215:25 that area
215:26 

215:26 i think broadly first thing to remember
215:28 

215:28 is that the port city will be fully
215:30 

215:30 operational
215:30 

215:30 only in a matter of about 20 years or so
215:33 

215:33 so
215:34 

215:34 frankly a lot of the policy makers a lot
215:36 

215:36 of the decision makers
215:38 

215:38 who are currently kind of debating this
215:41 

215:41 and discussing this
215:43 

215:43 will probably not you know be in the
215:45 

215:45 working force
215:46 

215:46 at the time that this is fully
215:48 

215:48 operational and and as a result i think
215:50 

215:50 that the youth voice in all of these
215:52 

215:52 debates and this course
215:54 

215:54 is heavily underrepresented and i think
215:56 

215:56 that's that's one of the things that we
215:58 

215:58 should bail on
215:59 

215:59 so in in that course of the 20 years and
216:02 

216:02 we've seen this
216:03 

216:03 especially in the last one year alone
216:06 

216:06 the world will be a very different place
216:09 

216:09 it's already a very different place from
216:11 

216:11 the start of 2020
216:12 

216:12 and i know this because being involved
216:15 

216:15 with different
216:16 

216:16 corporates who are struggling completely
216:20 

216:20 because
216:20 

216:20 all of their five-year plans or their
216:22 

216:22 long-term business plans
216:24 

216:24 have had to be amended or completely
216:26 

216:26 rehashed in the context of this
216:28 

216:28 pandemic now the pandemic may be
216:30 

216:30 temporary but there are also some
216:31 

216:31 permanent changes that will we
216:34 

216:34 kind of take into a place especially
216:36 

216:36 revolving around
216:37 

216:37 the future world especially around how
216:40 

216:40 people communicate
216:41 

216:41 and you know uh interact with each other
216:44 

216:44 so in a context like this some if you
216:46 

216:46 look at it some of the bigger
216:47 

216:47 developments around
216:48 

216:48 colombo city we were talking so long
216:50 

216:50 from 2010 onwards about
216:53 

216:53 uh you know the skyline of colombo being
216:55 

216:55 different and
216:56 

216:56 that being the the ray of hope coming
216:58 

216:58 through
216:59 

216:59 but if you really look at some of the
217:01 

217:01 mixed development projects that are
217:02 

217:02 taking place
217:03 

217:03 come on can we disturb you for a moment
217:06 

217:06 can you please tell me for a moment
217:08 

217:08 uh if you can look at if you if you can
217:10 

217:10 see uh the parliamentary sessions
217:12 

217:12 uh we've been informed that the
217:14 

217:14 parliament session is over that the bill
217:16 

217:16 has been passed
217:17 

217:17 by a majority uh so that's the update on
217:20 

217:20 on the parliament and anita do you have
217:22 

217:22 any comments on this
217:23 

217:23 well i mean what to say we've been
217:27 

217:27 discussing this for a while
217:28 

217:28 and i feel like people were expecting
217:31 

217:31 the bill to get passed at a certain
217:33 

217:33 point the question was whether the
217:34 

217:34 amendments would go through i guess
217:37 

217:37 ah and now now we can see that you know
217:39 

217:39 the road
217:40 

217:40 is here it looks like port city is going
217:42 

217:42 to finally
217:43 

217:43 happen yes definitely i think it looks
217:46 

217:46 like port city will have
217:47 

217:47 the legal framework to commence work uh
217:50 

217:50 and i think
217:51 

217:51 it's you know it's up to those good
217:52 

217:52 policy implementation of policies that
217:54 

217:54 will you know get us there
217:55 

217:55 man can you uh quickly uh you know
217:59 

217:59 and explain and you know contribute uh
218:02 

218:02 add on to what you were saying i'm sorry
218:04 

218:04 to have disturbed you
218:05 

218:05 but uh also uh just uh what's your take
218:08 

218:08 on on this recent development
218:11 

218:11 yeah so i mean just cutting straight to
218:13 

218:13 it i i think the the physical space
218:15 

218:15 and physical uh brick and mortar is is
218:18 

218:18 not
218:18 

218:18 necessarily going to be the end all of
218:20 

218:20 all
218:22 

218:22 in a globalized digitized world and
218:24 

218:24 that's been
218:27 

218:27 especially in the last year i mean i was
218:29 

218:29 just taking the example of
218:30 

218:30 you know building spaces that could
218:32 

218:32 accommodate conferences and global
218:34 

218:34 exhibitions of 4 000 packs and you know
218:37 

218:37 sometimes
218:38 

218:38 you know that we were saying that we can
218:41 

218:41 have regional expos
218:42 

218:42 i mean today look at what has happened
218:44 

218:44 in just 12 months all of those
218:46 

218:46 discussions have completely transformed
218:48 

218:48 exposure happening online
218:49 

218:49 uh the biggest tourism related expos
218:52 

218:52 started in the world travel market in
218:54 

218:54 london such as itb in berlin they're all
218:57 

218:57 happening digitally and the participants
218:59 

218:59 in fact are realizing that they have
219:00 

219:00 better interaction and they have better
219:03 

219:03 kind of value creation through some of
219:05 

219:05 these digital interactions
219:07 

219:07 so on one side since 2010 to 15 and not
219:09 

219:09 just sri lanka it's not a country
219:11 

219:11 problem
219:11 

219:11 but the world was focusing on building
219:13 

219:13 some of these physical
219:15 

219:15 infrastructure in order to create the
219:17 

219:17 the next wave and to be
219:19 

219:19 enablers and now what we've realized is
219:21 

219:21 that has been completely
219:22 

219:22 replaced overnight by some of these more
219:25 

219:25 advanced technologies
219:26 

219:26 so that's what i'm saying i mean i fully
219:28 

219:28 recognize
219:29 

219:29 the importance of physical proximity as
219:32 

219:32 you know
219:33 

219:33 places like silicon valley have been
219:35 

219:35 completely
219:36 

219:36 you know dense area has been which a
219:39 

219:39 disproportionate amount of innovation
219:41 

219:41 and billion dollar companies have come
219:43 

219:43 out to
219:43 

219:43 so there's definitely a secret source
219:45 

219:45 behind having people together in one
219:47 

219:47 place proximity plays a big role in
219:49 

219:49 innovation in new age thinking but also
219:53 

219:53 at the same time
219:54 

219:54 uh you know it's it's i want to take a
219:56 

219:56 little bit
219:57 

219:57 of i want to take a pinch of salt
219:60 

219:60 uh that you know in 20 years
220:03 

220:03 this physical space that is being built
220:07 

220:07 will definitely not be the end all of
220:09 

220:09 this whole development
220:11 

220:11 this new finance sector that we are
220:13 

220:13 imagining
220:14 

220:14 because a lot of it will be also in the
220:16 

220:16 virtual space for which we have to get
220:18 

220:18 ourselves up to
220:26 

220:26 thank you very much for that mr peers
220:29 

220:29 that was very insightful
220:31 

220:31 i believe we're on a bit of a time
220:33 

220:33 crunch now so we'll take a
220:35 

220:35 pause from this and we have a few more
220:38 

220:38 people
220:39 

220:39 lined up to uh speak to you before
220:42 

220:42 this day is done thanks anita thank you
220:45 

220:45 everyone
220:54 

220:54 let's immediately go on to our next
220:56 

220:56 segment uh
220:57 

220:57 anita would you like to uh kindly
220:60 

220:60 introduce our
221:00 

221:00 next panel of experts um
221:04 

221:04 so i believe our next panel of experts
221:08 

221:08 are on the call and they are ready and
221:09 

221:09 waiting for us
221:11 

221:11 we have with us dr patel
221:15 

221:15 as well as i believe we also have mr
221:19 

221:19 lakshman
221:20 

221:20 siribadan also on the call um
221:23 

221:23 doctor sarin needs a introduction he is
221:26 

221:26 the founder executive director of the
221:28 

221:28 center for
221:29 

221:29 policy alternatives that has been
221:31 

221:31 working quite hard on the topic of the
221:34 

221:34 port city ill
221:35 

221:35 and uh mr burdener carter serves as the
221:38 

221:38 executive direct director of the ve
221:40 

221:40 monster initiative
221:41 

221:41 and the foreign former executive
221:44 

221:44 director at the high final
221:45 

221:45 institute um dr simon thank you so much
221:48 

221:48 for joining us today
221:50 

221:50 uh in light of the decision
221:54 

221:54 uh let's just jump right into it what
221:57 

221:57 are your thoughts the cpa uh did a lot
222:00 

222:00 of work on this
222:01 

222:01 what is your opinion on the outcome well
222:04 

222:04 i mean let me say right at the outset
222:06 

222:06 thank you very much for inviting me to
222:08 

222:08 join this
222:08 

222:08 uh discussion cpa i mean we are
222:12 

222:12 very much in support of the idea of the
222:14 

222:14 port city
222:15 

222:15 development project but of course we had
222:17 

222:17 serious reservations
222:18 

222:18 about the way in which this particular
222:20 

222:20 one was going to be set up
222:23 

222:23 and we are happy that the supreme court
222:25 

222:25 has
222:26 

222:26 come up with a judgment or an order that
222:30 

222:30 says that look if you want to have
222:32 

222:32 certain things you have to go with the
222:33 

222:33 two-thirds majority and in some cases
222:35 

222:35 a referendum too so the court has
222:39 

222:39 moved to express to demonstrate its
222:43 

222:43 independence and assertiveness without
222:46 

222:46 at the same time incurring the
222:49 

222:49 displeasure of the government and
222:53 

222:53 win-win dimension to the court decision
222:56 

222:56 so if it is passed with all the
222:58 

222:58 amendments
222:60 

222:60 i think that's a good thing at one level
223:19 

223:19 uh
223:29 

223:29 uh so uh to to get straight onto the
223:32 

223:32 point
223:32 

223:32 now we're talking about a bill that has
223:34 

223:34 been passing parliament what's what's
223:36 

223:36 your analysis what what what are your
223:38 

223:38 comments
223:38 

223:38 uh dr sarah muthu has already made a few
223:40 

223:40 comments also we would like to hear your
223:42 

223:42 analysis
223:44 

223:44 yeah i fully agree with uh
223:47 

223:47 what
223:52 

223:52 what i would like to add is that
223:56 

223:56 our sri lanka being able to attract
223:59 

223:59 a foreign investment to a project of
224:02 

224:02 this magnitude
224:04 

224:04 uh taking into consideration our
224:07 

224:07 probably the geographical location
224:10 

224:10 i think this is the this is one will be
224:14 

224:14 a very much of a landmark
224:16 

224:16 project in sri lanka
224:20 

224:20 subject to successful implementation or
224:24 

224:24 realization of the secondary
224:27 

224:27 investment as well therefore i think
224:30 

224:30 we should embrace upon this the
224:33 

224:33 decisions of the
224:35 

224:35 supreme court which are to someone
224:40 

224:40 as to my knowledge to some extent in
224:43 

224:43 line with the government also thinking
224:45 

224:45 because they
224:47 

224:47 at the last stages they introduced some
224:50 

224:50 of these
224:50 

224:50 uh changes amendments to the
224:54 

224:54 uh for city bill i think for ct will
224:58 

224:58 going through it in the parliament
225:01 

225:01 according to what i
225:02 

225:02 message i got which has already been
225:04 

225:04 passed
225:05 

225:05 uh now it's in the committee state
225:08 

225:08 i think uh this uh excellent opportunity
225:12 

225:12 for sri lanka to
225:14 

225:14 have this kind of
225:17 

225:17 international illness
225:31 

225:31 thank you sir thank you for the thank
225:32 

225:32 you thank you for those comments
225:34 

225:34 i would like to uh just uh go a bit
225:36 

225:36 deeper and
225:37 

225:37 and ask dr sarwin to uh sir the
225:40 

225:40 watchword of the sri lankan civil
225:42 

225:42 society organizations have been
225:44 

225:44 uh you know reduce executive power
225:46 

225:46 reduce uh
225:48 

225:48 the the powers restore bestowed upon the
225:50 

225:50 executive president
225:52 

225:52 so this is this uh not a supreme court
225:55 

225:55 determination to the contrary and
225:57 

225:57 has it not strengthened uh the
225:59 

225:59 president's power
225:60 

225:60 and what do you think is the impact on
226:02 

226:02 on sri lankan civil society
226:04 

226:04 and uh the the future of
226:07 

226:07 uh this narrative well yes i mean
226:11 

226:11 as a consequence of the 20th amendment
226:13 

226:13 we don't have a proper constitutional
226:15 

226:15 council
226:16 

226:16 we only have some sort of parliamentary
226:18 

226:18 council which
226:19 

226:19 can is obliged to give its observations
226:22 

226:22 and those observations need not be acted
226:25 

226:25 upon
226:26 

226:26 sure so within the current
226:27 

226:27 constitutional framework
226:29 

226:29 which is reasserted and reaffirmed the
226:32 

226:32 primacy
226:33 

226:33 the not just primacy the overarching
226:36 

226:36 predominance
226:37 

226:37 of the executive presidency yes he does
226:40 

226:40 have power but
226:41 

226:41 one must say though that the bill does
226:43 

226:43 specify that whoever he appoints to the
226:46 

226:46 commission
226:47 

226:47 needs to be have certain amount of
226:50 

226:50 expertise and specialized
226:52 

226:52 knowledge and we now have
226:56 

226:56 the government saying that they will
226:58 

226:58 give
226:59 

226:59 [Music]
227:00 

227:00 to sri lankans the majority of the seats
227:02 

227:02 on that commission
227:03 

227:03 and the chairperson two would be a sri
227:06 

227:06 lankan
227:07 

227:07 but the current constitutional framework
227:11 

227:11 that we have after the 20th amendment is
227:13 

227:13 indeed
227:14 

227:14 extremely disappointing in that respect
227:16 

227:16 i mean the whole point about
227:18 

227:18 a functioning liberal democracy is that
227:21 

227:21 the three branches of government
227:23 

227:23 the executive the legislature and the
227:26 

227:26 judiciary
227:27 

227:27 that no single one of them will be so
227:30 

227:30 powerful
227:31 

227:31 as to lay down the law to the others but
227:34 

227:34 of course this question was not the one
227:36 

227:36 before the court
227:37 

227:37 at this point this question was
227:39 

227:39 something that had to be dealt with as
227:41 

227:41 far as the 20th amendment
227:43 

227:43 was concerned yeah so given the current
227:46 

227:46 constitutional framework i think perhaps
227:49 

227:49 the court has done the best that it
227:52 

227:52 could although there are arguments and i
227:55 

227:55 have a certain sympathy for these
227:57 

227:57 arguments that
227:58 

227:58 it could have struck out more boldly and
228:01 

228:01 talked about
228:02 

228:02 the importance of the separation of
228:04 

228:04 powers
228:06 

228:06 and that that needed to be upheld that
228:08 

228:08 at the end of the
228:10 

228:10 end of the day that's the reason why the
228:13 

228:13 court was looking at this was in terms
228:15 

228:15 of the constitutionality
228:17 

228:17 and the governance dimensions of this
228:20 

228:20 new dispensation and that it would have
228:22 

228:22 done more in that respect
228:30 

228:30 do you have any comments uh on on on
228:33 

228:33 what what on what a doctor one what
228:35 

228:35 doctor sarvan uh spoke to us would you
228:38 

228:38 like to add on this
228:39 

228:39 you know what i would like to say that
228:41 

228:41 20th
228:42 

228:42 amendment is already passed that's
228:45 

228:45 that's
228:45 

228:45 that's where we have to live with and
228:49 

228:49 also uh i have completely different
228:52 

228:52 views about the executive presidency
228:55 

228:55 than
228:58 

228:58 taking into consideration the historic
229:01 

229:01 history of
229:01 

229:01 the executive presidency and without
229:05 

229:05 having
229:05 

229:05 such situations after the what happened
229:09 

229:09 during the good governance period and
229:12 

229:12 therefore
229:12 

229:12 i i don't want to go back i mean it's
229:15 

229:15 not any more relevant in the
229:17 

229:17 current aspect because this is
229:18 

229:18 illustrated
229:20 

229:20 and also therefore what i think is what
229:23 

229:23 we have to look at is
229:25 

229:25 in the now the bill is
229:28 

229:28 according to what i have received has
229:30 

229:30 been passed and it's in the committee
229:31 

229:31 state
229:32 

229:32 now then after the establishment of this
229:35 

229:35 regulatory or new state
229:42 

229:42 and how we we are going to see
229:45 

229:45 uh jointly probably with the
229:48 

229:48 main investor that the chinese
229:52 

229:52 engineering cooperation how we are going
229:54 

229:54 to promote this
229:56 

229:56 and get again the more and more
229:59 

229:59 more for secondary investors and
230:02 

230:02 then proceed beyond that i'm talking
230:06 

230:06 about
230:06 

230:06 the uh legalities of anything
230:10 

230:10 that was in the past i don't know
230:12 

230:12 whether they should be relevant in the
230:14 

230:14 near future
230:18 

230:18 uh thank you mr mrs uh dr
230:21 

230:21 muther is something that has been
230:23 

230:23 discussed that was definitely discussed
230:24 

230:24 in parliament today
230:26 

230:26 and that was also raised in the kind of
230:28 

230:28 comment section of today's discussion
230:30 

230:30 was the question of how much
230:31 

230:31 accountability will even at
230:35 

230:35 sufficient accountability uh
230:37 

230:37 incorporated into the whole city
230:40 

230:40 uh especially specific uh attention was
230:43 

230:43 drawn to the role of hope
230:44 

230:44 and kopa as well would you be able to
230:47 

230:47 shed some light on this
230:49 

230:49 i mean that's a key question at the end
230:51 

230:51 of the day because if
230:53 

230:53 what the court has said is that
230:55 

230:55 parliament's
230:56 

230:56 oversight over public finance
230:59 

230:59 cannot be displaced and has to be upheld
231:03 

231:03 then cope and copper and all of these
231:05 

231:05 committees and oversight bodies
231:07 

231:07 do have a very important role to play
231:10 

231:10 now i think the thing is is that the
231:13 

231:13 individuals who are
231:14 

231:14 on these bodies have to take that
231:17 

231:17 responsibility
231:19 

231:19 very seriously and ensure
231:22 

231:22 that they play their role as they are
231:25 

231:25 intended to
231:26 

231:26 in the interests of parliament's control
231:29 

231:29 over public finance so i think we have
231:32 

231:32 to wait and see as to whether
231:34 

231:34 this will be sustained as it were
231:38 

231:38 and demonstrated into the future
231:41 

231:41 but absolutely accountability is the
231:44 

231:44 whole
231:44 

231:44 is the key here in terms of the
231:47 

231:47 institutions that are to be set up
231:50 

231:50 and if we are to have this as
231:53 

231:53 a key institution in terms of our
231:56 

231:56 economic development
231:58 

231:58 we can't cloak it in a whole lot of
232:01 

232:01 opaqueness and all of that it has to be
232:04 

232:04 properly transparent
232:05 

232:05 and a vibrant institution
232:09 

232:09 in order to inspire confidence not just
232:11 

232:11 to foreign
232:12 

232:12 investors but also to the people of this
232:14 

232:14 country
232:21 

232:21 thank you thank you very much
232:28 

232:28 i i think we're running short of time
232:30 

232:30 but i think we can have one more
232:32 

232:32 one more one more simple question for
232:34 

232:34 the both of you
232:35 

232:35 uh now i think the port city was
232:38 

232:38 supposed to be a workaround
232:41 

232:41 uh so uh do you think the in
232:44 

232:44 the bill in its current form has
232:46 

232:46 sufficiently met that standard of a
232:48 

232:48 workaround
232:49 

232:49 especially if you locate from a uh you
232:50 

232:50 know commercial aspect as well
232:57 

232:57 do i go first yeah yeah you go ahead
233:01 

233:01 anthony
233:02 

233:02 well i mean i think whether the port
233:05 

233:05 city has met those standards
233:07 

233:07 is going to be steam when it's actually
233:10 

233:10 set up
233:11 

233:11 and when the investors come i mean in a
233:13 

233:13 sense the argument is
233:14 

233:14 that the proof of the pudding is in the
233:16 

233:16 eating
233:18 

233:18 but of course what we are concerned
233:20 

233:20 about at this point
233:21 

233:21 is is that this is the right pudding and
233:24 

233:24 it has been made
233:26 

233:26 with due respect for all the ingredients
233:30 

233:30 and the procedures that you're into
233:31 

233:31 making it and
233:34 

233:34 what the court has done is that it has
233:38 

233:38 put a certain stock if you like
233:43 

233:43 on the executive and the lack of
233:45 

233:45 transparency
233:47 

233:47 and all of that and that is to be to be
233:49 

233:49 woke up
233:50 

233:50 but as far as it meeting the required
233:54 

233:54 standards
233:55 

233:55 there are the constitutional questions
233:58 

233:58 but there are also the practical
233:59 

233:59 questions and those practical questions
234:02 

234:02 i think it's too early to tell
234:06 

234:06 and you know when it comes to the port
234:10 

234:10 city in my
234:11 

234:11 opinion there are two different
234:14 

234:14 things that we are talking about for
234:16 

234:16 example
234:18 

234:18 within the bui there is there are
234:20 

234:20 foreign
234:21 

234:21 similarly the port city there is a
234:24 

234:24 foreign investment project
234:25 

234:25 it is a prime minister project and the
234:27 

234:27 port city bill
234:28 

234:28 was only without the establishment of a
234:32 

234:32 regulatory and administrative framework
234:35 

234:35 and
234:36 

234:36 therefore when it comes to this
234:39 

234:39 transparency or anything that you are
234:42 

234:42 talking about
234:43 

234:43 what the foreign investor investment
234:46 

234:46 and how he is going to promote it and
234:49 

234:49 market it
234:50 

234:50 and the secondary investors come they
234:53 

234:53 are going to
234:54 

234:54 be investing in this and
234:57 

234:57 as a result of that they are going to be
234:60 

234:60 uh
235:00 

235:00 further development is that what you're
235:03 

235:03 talking about
235:04 

235:04 or the commission
235:07 

235:07 or per se you know when
235:11 

235:11 i think it was slightly mentioned it
235:13 

235:13 depends on the individual
235:15 

235:15 central bank of sri lanka it has
235:19 

235:19 all the history evolution development
235:22 

235:22 and finally when if that
235:25 

235:25 was a particular position is held by an
235:28 

235:28 individual or
235:30 

235:30 a team which is completely
235:33 

235:33 unbelievably different corrupt or
235:36 

235:36 something like that
235:38 

235:38 what is what's going to happen therefore
235:41 

235:41 those kind of things are
235:43 

235:43 kind of hypocritical and it
235:46 

235:46 depends on what kind of people are going
235:48 

235:48 to operate but
235:50 

235:50 for it as a foreign investment project
235:53 

235:53 i think this is something that
235:56 

235:56 we should be close to watch
236:00 

236:00 promote support but the
236:03 

236:03 commission itself is a
236:08 

236:08 something structured to be operated
236:13 

236:13 in facility the
236:17 

236:17 invest primary investor as well as a
236:20 

236:20 concrete minister
236:22 

236:22 as far as i can see it is a great
236:25 

236:25 invention in the sense of just like
236:28 

236:28 the great colombo economic commission
236:31 

236:31 you try to power out an area
236:33 

236:33 trying to use the
236:36 

236:36 structural and other impediments
236:38 

236:38 regulatory impediments
236:40 

236:40 therefore i think this is something that
236:43 

236:43 we all should welcome at this point
236:47 

236:47 individuals how do they behave
236:50 

236:50 transparency
236:51 

236:51 how does it happen as i mentioned that
236:54 

236:54 clearly what happened in central bank
236:58 

236:58 you know those are
237:01 

237:01 certain other mechanisms um
237:06 

237:06 thank you very much mrs and thank you as
237:10 

237:10 well
237:12 

237:12 uh we really appreciate your insight and
237:14 

237:14 taking the time to join us in this
237:19 

237:19 thank you very conversation it was a
237:20 

237:20 pleasure speaking to the both of you
237:23 

237:23 thank you very much
237:26 

237:26 very much thank you bye
237:29 

237:29 thank you thank you
237:33 

237:33 uh so now we'll have uh before our
237:36 

237:36 next two experts join the call
237:40 

237:40 we'll have a quick switch we will have
237:41 

237:41 don and fernando drawing on our end
237:45 

237:45 uh and then we will be bringing in two
237:47 

237:47 experts
237:48 

237:48 mr shiner chandrasekhar and indica
238:01 

238:01 suffers
238:29 

238:29 um
238:47 

238:47 hello uh welcome back to our live
238:50 

238:50 commentary
238:51 

238:51 we have been speaking to a range of uh
238:54 

238:54 experts
238:55 

238:55 starting from the investor community
238:57 

238:57 from the legal experts
238:59 

238:59 also we got the uh insights from the
239:02 

239:02 poor city
239:03 

239:03 from it was very
239:06 

239:06 insightful and interesting ultimately
239:09 

239:09 they are the developers and they have to
239:10 

239:10 market this plot of land and bring the
239:12 

239:12 necessary investments
239:14 

239:14 finally we have charita uh chandrasena
239:17 

239:17 and indigo
239:17 

239:17 surya who are from the journalistic
239:19 

239:19 community because ultimately
239:21 

239:21 they get i think the first pulse of the
239:23 

239:23 investor community
239:25 

239:25 given uh the recording structure and of
239:28 

239:28 course with the investment
239:29 

239:29 and this topic has been there since i
239:32 

239:32 think 2012 13 uh how this posterior
239:36 

239:36 development project came into the right
239:37 

239:37 light
239:38 

239:38 and so on and so forth so uh remember we
239:41 

239:41 have
239:41 

239:41 uh charitable senator from uh the
239:43 

239:43 editor-in-chief from
239:44 

239:44 for the morning newspaper the daily
239:46 

239:46 morning and also
239:48 

239:48 indigenous sacramento the business
239:49 

239:49 editor of daily mirror
239:51 

239:51 uh challenger and indica now the bill
239:53 

239:53 has been passed finally
239:55 

239:55 uh so uh what it means is of course we
239:58 

239:58 all know
239:59 

239:59 the government can do the necessary uh
240:01 

240:01 legislation and then move forward from
240:03 

240:03 there
240:04 

240:04 and of course it will have the legal
240:05 

240:05 validity for the port city
240:07 

240:07 to market the land from a journalistic
240:09 

240:09 point of view since we have been also
240:11 

240:11 following this conversation for the last
240:13 

240:13 few years what are your thoughts uh do
240:16 

240:16 you think that we will be able to
240:18 

240:18 attract the necessary investors with the
240:21 

240:21 legislation that was passed
240:22 

240:22 in the current condition because i felt
240:25 

240:25 that the government had the chance to go
240:28 

240:28 and get some of the amendments or leave
240:30 

240:30 it as the original way
240:32 

240:32 by going for the two-thirds majority
240:34 

240:34 since the government had a
240:35 

240:35 good opportunity to get it passed in the
240:37 

240:37 original form that they presented
240:39 

240:39 so what are your thoughts chalendra and
240:41 

240:41 indie guy will start with
240:43 

240:43 whether this bill in this current form
240:45 

240:45 which was just passed at the parliament
240:47 

240:47 whether we must be able to attract
240:49 

240:49 investments
240:52 

240:52 um thank you for having me donna and
240:55 

240:55 everybody uh
240:56 

240:56 i hope you can hear me
241:01 

241:01 loud and clear very clear right um so i
241:04 

241:04 i just think that uh first of all if we
241:08 

241:08 take a step back and uh look at this
241:10 

241:10 entire project
241:12 

241:12 i don't think anybody who who hasn't has
241:15 

241:15 a sense of the
241:16 

241:16 value of investments would have a
241:17 

241:17 problem with the concept of the project
241:19 

241:19 because this is generally a project that
241:22 

241:22 has gone through governments
241:23 

241:23 so uh the sticking point i think was
241:27 

241:27 this latest bill and
241:30 

241:30 if it helps if it helps
241:33 

241:33 uh that the government decided to you
241:36 

241:36 know make the amendments and
241:38 

241:38 you know not go for a two-thirds
241:39 

241:39 majority and then you know expedite the
241:42 

241:42 process i think that
241:43 

241:43 uh may be good in the interest of time
241:45 

241:45 because uh as we know there has there
241:47 

241:47 was a delay with the previous gone
241:49 

241:49 um you know they had certain issues with
241:51 

241:51 it uh you know
241:53 

241:53 some may say legitimate and you know
241:54 

241:54 some may say that we delayed the process
241:55 

241:55 but
241:56 

241:56 uh there was a delay so uh i think it's
241:59 

241:59 important
242:00 

242:00 that this project gets going and
242:04 

242:04 then i think the government has a
242:05 

242:05 responsibility to make it
242:07 

242:07 uh transparent and uh to you know allow
242:10 

242:10 the fears that some other opposition
242:12 

242:12 or the opponents to this tab about money
242:15 

242:15 laundering about a lack of transparency
242:17 

242:17 about certain other ills
242:21 

242:21 but i actually personally like the fact
242:24 

242:24 that
242:24 

242:24 there has been a bit of a push forward
242:27 

242:27 on this
242:28 

242:28 uh right after the supreme court
242:29 

242:29 decision
242:34 

242:34 yeah i would like to ask the same
242:36 

242:36 question from uh
242:38 

242:38 what are your thoughts do you think in
242:40 

242:40 the current form whether the
242:42 

242:42 the port city is in a position to
242:44 

242:44 attract the similar scale of investments
242:47 

242:47 yeah i thank you for having me lana and
242:51 

242:51 advocate i hope you can hear me
242:59 

242:59 yeah so uh now i don't see any point
243:04 

243:04 us now talking about how good or the bad
243:06 

243:06 the poor city law
243:08 

243:08 because it has already been passed in
243:10 

243:10 parliament
243:11 

243:11 and it is low so in this point i think
243:14 

243:14 what we should try and
243:15 

243:15 try to do is you know
243:19 

243:19 to make it as successful as possible
243:22 

243:22 this project
243:23 

243:23 and whether it will be a catalyst for
243:25 

243:25 the country's economy
243:26 

243:26 or a source of uh tax income decades or
243:30 

243:30 hot bid for money
243:31 

243:31 laundering or paradise for both local
243:34 

243:34 and global robber barons
243:36 

243:36 it is you know only time will tell us so
243:39 

243:39 i think
243:40 

243:40 as charindra said uh what we need to do
243:43 

243:43 is you know
243:45 

243:45 uh to focus on this media everybody else
243:49 

243:49 and to make this right i think
243:51 

243:51 opposition will also have
243:53 

243:53 have a bigger role to play in this
243:59 

243:59 uh i think it's it's been uh if you look
244:01 

244:01 at what the discussion you know
244:03 

244:03 that we've had all throughout the day
244:04 

244:04 it's been very interesting especially
244:06 

244:06 with the parliamentary debates
244:07 

244:07 uh i would love to know uh the reading
244:10 

244:10 of these two
244:11 

244:11 uh gentlemen uh on on what they think
244:14 

244:14 of the whole parliamentary process the
244:16 

244:16 discussion the political space
244:18 

244:18 i'm sure you guys have will will
244:20 

244:20 incorporate these into your headlines
244:22 

244:22 tomorrow morning
244:23 

244:23 but for drakata's sake tell us uh what
244:26 

244:26 do you think of the political space
244:28 

244:28 uh the political discussions that took
244:30 

244:30 place in you know
244:31 

244:31 uh going up to this bill and uh you know
244:34 

244:34 what what's going to be the impact on
244:36 

244:36 the future political trajectory of the
244:37 

244:37 country
244:40 

244:40 um i uh personally think um
244:43 

244:43 that this is this needs
244:46 

244:46 because see this is a project this is uh
244:49 

244:49 possibly
244:50 

244:50 i mean this is the longest project the
244:52 

244:52 longest in terms of
244:54 

244:54 duration project that has been
244:56 

244:56 undertaken in in the country
244:58 

244:58 so in that sense it is important
245:02 

245:02 that we actually get some bipartisanship
245:05 

245:05 going for this so it was encouraging to
245:09 

245:09 see the main opposition party saying
245:10 

245:10 that they don't have a problem
245:12 

245:12 with the concept and that the concept
245:14 

245:14 was brought
245:15 

245:15 brought about by their previous leader
245:18 

245:18 um
245:19 

245:19 the unp leader become singer and
245:23 

245:23 uh conceptualized by him and then you
245:25 

245:25 know
245:26 

245:26 the the the rajamashita took it forward
245:28 

245:28 so
245:29 

245:29 i think that is encouraging of course
245:32 

245:32 there is going to be politics being
245:34 

245:34 played
245:34 

245:34 right you can't agree with everything
245:36 

245:36 the government does then you are not
245:37 

245:37 playing the role of an operation so you
245:39 

245:39 have to you know
245:39 

245:39 do a bit of you know uh give them a bit
245:41 

245:41 of a hard time but
245:43 

245:43 um what i would like to say is the
245:45 

245:45 government
245:47 

245:47 uh also uh having a consensual process
245:50 

245:50 here
245:50 

245:50 you know they build some consensus on
245:52 

245:52 certain uh fundamental aspects of this
245:54 

245:54 because we don't know what will happen
245:56 

245:56 in the next election there could be a
245:57 

245:57 different government
245:58 

245:58 and then after that are we gonna see a
246:00 

246:00 repeat of
246:02 

246:02 uh what happened in uh 2016 right
246:05 

246:05 where uh there was a stoppage of a year
246:08 

246:08 and
246:08 

246:08 that cost us valuable time so i would
246:10 

246:10 like to see some bipartisanship
246:12 

246:12 and some consensus being built um but i
246:15 

246:15 also don't think that the government
246:17 

246:17 can sell this uh project as the panacea
246:20 

246:20 for all
246:21 

246:21 uh of sri lanka's economic uh votes
246:24 

246:24 you know this is just one there's a main
246:27 

246:27 part of it but
246:28 

246:28 it it won't solve uh the issues we have
246:31 

246:31 with bureaucracy corruption
246:33 

246:33 um within the island so uh
246:36 

246:36 for sri lanka all of that has to be
246:38 

246:38 sorted but this will be a
246:41 

246:41 push in the right direction so um
246:43 

246:43 overall i think
246:44 

246:44 both the government and the opposition
246:46 

246:46 should agree on certain fundamental
246:48 

246:48 things about this because
246:49 

246:49 uh i mean to ensure that the investors
246:52 

246:52 who come in
246:53 

246:53 are not uh left in limbo once the
246:56 

246:56 government changes whether it's
246:57 

246:57 the next election or the election after
246:59 

246:59 that
247:01 

247:01 thank you i would like to ask uh indica
247:04 

247:04 because you mentioned a valid point the
247:06 

247:06 bill is now already passed so there is
247:07 

247:07 nothing no turning back
247:09 

247:09 uh unless as charizard said like the
247:11 

247:11 government changes and they say they
247:13 

247:13 bring up something else and they go back
247:15 

247:15 and they want okay they say they want to
247:17 

247:17 do another evaluation or something like
247:18 

247:18 that
247:19 

247:19 and they have daily reverse so from the
247:21 

247:21 media's point
247:22 

247:22 of view from the opposition's point of
247:24 

247:24 view from the peoples of sri lanka
247:25 

247:25 what do you think actually we should do
247:27 

247:27 next because actually
247:29 

247:29 they brought this up as well because he
247:31 

247:31 said we are already laying on the
247:33 

247:33 project the more we take time
247:35 

247:35 we will not be able to sell these blocks
247:37 

247:37 of land that will delay the investments
247:39 

247:39 so to expedite the process in your
247:42 

247:42 opinion what we should do next india
247:45 

247:45 yeah unfortunately i think today's
247:46 

247:46 parliament session i
247:48 

247:48 only watched it today i couldn't watch
247:49 

247:49 it yesterday but parliament session was
247:52 

247:52 like
247:52 

247:52 you know very it's very tragic to see
247:55 

247:55 some
247:56 

247:56 parliamentarians uh not discussing the
247:59 

247:59 subject but
248:00 

248:00 certain things which are not really
248:03 

248:03 important you know
248:05 

248:05 sleeping matter at each other so it's
248:07 

248:07 very unfortunate it's i think very
248:08 

248:08 typical of our sri lankan parliament
248:10 

248:10 anyways i think you know now as i said
248:14 

248:14 it's it's
248:14 

248:14 it's already low this poor city
248:16 

248:16 commission bill is already low so
248:19 

248:19 what the government has challenged very
248:21 

248:21 correctly said what the government
248:22 

248:22 should do
248:23 

248:23 try to try and do is to get some
248:26 

248:26 bipartisanship
248:27 

248:27 you know get the opposition's ideas and
248:29 

248:29 you know try to
248:30 

248:30 make this work as possible because you
248:33 

248:33 know we need to get it right
248:35 

248:35 because this could probably our last
248:37 

248:37 chance
248:38 

248:38 this could probably our last chance to
248:40 

248:40 you know take sri lanka to the next
248:42 

248:42 level because now we've been
248:44 

248:44 sort of in this uh income bracket for
248:47 

248:47 some time
248:48 

248:48 and we've been stagnating so we need to
248:51 

248:51 move forward
248:52 

248:52 for that to happen we need something
248:54 

248:54 like this there is no doubt about and
248:56 

248:56 i was glad to see that the the
248:59 

248:59 opposition was also saying that
248:60 

249:00 okay fundamentally they are they are
249:03 

249:03 okay with the project but
249:05 

249:05 certain closest they will not agree
249:07 

249:07 that's fine so we can work it out i
249:09 

249:09 guess
249:10 

249:10 so the most important thing at this
249:12 

249:12 moment
249:13 

249:13 is to make the and
249:16 

249:16 to market the project as soon as
249:18 

249:18 possible do some road shows
249:20 

249:20 i think the column for city is already
249:22 

249:22 the project company is already on it
249:25 

249:25 to a certain extent and and also to
249:28 

249:28 make people feel that this is their
249:31 

249:31 project
249:31 

249:31 not a chinese project that is very
249:33 

249:33 important because
249:34 

249:34 sri lankan people need to have the
249:37 

249:37 ownership of the project
249:38 

249:38 it's not just okay chinese chinese are
249:40 

249:40 doing it and we have nothing to do with
249:42 

249:42 it
249:43 

249:43 so so that that i think the government
249:45 

249:45 will also have to
249:46 

249:46 play a very uh subtle communication game
249:49 

249:49 as well
249:51 

249:51 to make this sri lanka the sri lankan
249:54 

249:54 people's
249:55 

249:55 project thank you
249:58 

249:58 thank you very much uh challenger uh i
249:60 

249:60 would also like to get your thoughts on
250:01 

250:01 the same question
250:02 

250:02 uh you also mentioned that hopefully
250:05 

250:05 there will be no turning back there's a
250:06 

250:06 new government coming in and again they
250:08 

250:08 revise
250:09 

250:09 all these so what do you think from your
250:11 

250:11 perspective what we should do next
250:15 

250:15 um that's a very important point that
250:17 

250:17 indicator is
250:19 

250:19 done up because see communication is key
250:22 

250:22 and we saw that's where the previous
250:25 

250:25 government faulted they had no
250:27 

250:27 communication they couldn't
250:28 

250:28 uh build a narrative around certain big
250:31 

250:31 projects you know
250:32 

250:32 make people feel that this is ours and
250:35 

250:35 this is how we benefit right
250:36 

250:36 and therefore the opposition was able to
250:39 

250:39 you know say certain things about
250:40 

250:40 certain projects and
250:41 

250:41 uh you know create a very very bad
250:44 

250:44 impression about those projects uh
250:47 

250:47 completely ignoring any benefits so this
250:49 

250:49 government
250:50 

250:50 i mean this uh government and the people
250:53 

250:53 leading the government have
250:54 

250:54 traditionally been very good at
250:55 

250:55 marketing
250:56 

250:56 so i have a lot of confidence that they
250:59 

250:59 will market this better they'll build a
251:00 

251:00 narrative around
251:02 

251:02 um like indica said it's very important
251:04 

251:04 that it becomes a sri lankan project and
251:06 

251:06 not a chinese project
251:07 

251:07 because no matter what the government
251:08 

251:08 says the fact of the matter is there is
251:10 

251:10 a reason
251:11 

251:11 for china investing here
251:14 

251:14 right china is essentially circling
251:18 

251:18 india right they're surrounding india so
251:20 

251:20 they have uh
251:21 

251:21 a lot of interest in pakistan they've
251:24 

251:24 gone into bangladesh
251:25 

251:25 that's in the east pakistan the uh
251:28 

251:28 pakistan
251:30 

251:30 the west and then you have
251:33 

251:33 sri lanka in the south so basically this
251:36 

251:36 is a
251:37 

251:37 strategy of actually circling india and
251:40 

251:40 surrounding india and showing them
251:42 

251:42 and flexing a bit you know flexing their
251:43 

251:43 muscles a bit saying that
251:45 

251:45 this may have been your uh region but
251:47 

251:47 now it's ours
251:48 

251:48 right that's why india has a lot of uh
251:50 

251:50 doubts about this project our suspicion
251:52 

251:52 um so we we shouldn't uh just say that
251:56 

251:56 you know
251:56 

251:56 china is coming because it's our friend
251:58 

251:58 it's coming for investment but also
251:60 

251:60 geopolitically
252:01 

252:01 uh geographically this is very very
252:03 

252:03 important
252:04 

252:04 so um that's uh i think another reason
252:07 

252:07 that they've been pushing for it so much
252:09 

252:09 um but all that said right this is a
252:12 

252:12 very very beneficial project for sri
252:14 

252:14 lanka
252:14 

252:14 if it's done right so i i really hope
252:17 

252:17 that they take
252:18 

252:18 the bull by the horns and actually go
252:20 

252:20 for go forth with this project
252:22 

252:22 and also like i said build some
252:24 

252:24 consensus because it's important in the
252:25 

252:25 long run
252:27 

252:27 uh before we wrap up my final question
252:29 

252:29 to indica
252:31 

252:31 indigo does economic diplomacy has also
252:34 

252:34 been discussed throughout
252:35 

252:35 uh you know throughout this project and
252:38 

252:38 also we are at a very
252:40 

252:40 unique period of time because we all are
252:42 

252:42 in a global pandemic
252:44 

252:44 in the middle of a global pandemic so
252:46 

252:46 the the
252:47 

252:47 vaccine diplomacy and all things have
252:49 

252:49 also come into play
252:50 

252:50 unlike when the project was at the
252:52 

252:52 development stage in 2012 2016 2017.
252:56 

252:56 now the context have changed so how do
252:59 

252:59 you think that we should uh capitalize
253:01 

253:01 as a country
253:02 

253:02 how we should capitalize because if you
253:04 

253:04 look at our our strengths and weaknesses
253:06 

253:06 we are not in a very good position to
253:08 

253:08 negotiate from our end our our
253:10 

253:10 government numbers are increasing our
253:12 

253:12 debt situation is somewhat not uh not
253:14 

253:14 not very clear
253:15 

253:15 rating agencies have cut down operating
253:17 

253:17 of course there's a debate between them
253:19 

253:19 but however when it comes to the
253:20 

253:20 negotiation table
253:22 

253:22 on the diplomacy side we challenge the
253:24 

253:24 brought out there's india there's god
253:26 

253:26 there's china and at the same time we
253:28 

253:28 have to get the vaccine
253:29 

253:29 vaccines as well china has donated uh
253:33 

253:33 about i think 500
253:34 

253:34 000 vaccines according to the their
253:36 

253:36 twitter message so how do you see
253:38 

253:38 we should manage or overall all these
253:41 

253:41 suspects you brought
253:42 

253:42 you shed light on the communication
253:44 

253:44 system you shed light on what needs to
253:46 

253:46 be done next
253:47 

253:47 but how do we manage these all
253:49 

253:49 stakeholders as a
253:50 

253:50 as a island in the indian ocean yeah
253:54 

253:54 before that then i would like to add
253:55 

253:55 something on what uh
253:57 

253:57 something on what charizard said now
253:60 

253:60 first reeler i feel that for sri lanka
254:02 

254:02 really because this is a long
254:03 

254:03 long project like 25 years or 30 years
254:06 

254:06 project
254:07 

254:07 so for sri lanka to really benefit
254:10 

254:10 from it i think we need to big time
254:13 

254:13 reformer education sector that is
254:16 

254:16 because
254:17 

254:17 okay uh where is the money coming from
254:20 

254:20 to the mainland
254:22 

254:22 to the sri lankans right okay the
254:24 

254:24 government can earn money from
254:26 

254:26 okay leasing leasing the land and
254:28 

254:28 probably to
254:29 

254:29 taxes tax income but the long term money
254:32 

254:32 will be coming from
254:34 

254:34 people who are being employed at sri
254:37 

254:37 lanka for being employed at
254:38 

254:38 port city to have that skill set okay
254:41 

254:41 let's say multinationals microsoft or
254:43 

254:43 whoever
254:44 

254:44 right who comes and set up business
254:46 

254:46 there
254:48 

254:48 need to hire skilled people
254:51 

254:51 so currently i really doubt
254:54 

254:54 whether you know they will have their
254:57 

254:57 they will have their requirement right i
255:00 

255:00 really doubt it because
255:02 

255:02 our education system i think we have we
255:05 

255:05 have discussed
255:06 

255:06 this you know for a longer period of
255:08 

255:08 time
255:09 

255:09 right so whether we have that human
255:12 

255:12 capital in the country so i think
255:16 

255:16 it is very important for the government
255:18 

255:18 to you know understand that
255:20 

255:20 and to really benefit from the port city
255:23 

255:23 we need to
255:24 

255:24 reform our education sector big time
255:26 

255:26 okay
255:27 

255:27 uh and from on what you asked and i
255:31 

255:31 think you know
255:32 

255:32 it's very difficult to maintain an
255:36 

255:36 unaligned
255:38 

255:38 uh position at this moment i feel that
255:40 

255:40 right it's very difficult
255:42 

255:42 so i think you i think you have to take
255:44 

255:44 sides and you have to take sides but
255:46 

255:46 then again
255:47 

255:47 it is a it is a matter of you know how
255:50 

255:50 you are handling things i guess
255:52 

255:52 so there's no doubt that okay we
255:54 

255:54 currently our position
255:56 

255:56 you know it's move through china right
255:59 

255:59 so that is whether we like it or not
256:02 

256:02 that is the reality
256:03 

256:03 so we should try to manage our position
256:06 

256:06 as much as possible you know the
256:07 

256:07 non-aligned position and you know
256:09 

256:09 but then again it's a very subtle line i
256:11 

256:11 think it's a very very very very subtle
256:14 

256:14 line we have to take so it for that
256:18 

256:18 i think we need leaders
256:21 

256:21 you know very good caliber to handle
256:23 

256:23 that so
256:26 

256:26 i don't really see okay
256:29 

256:29 how we are going to go about it because
256:32 

256:32 i
256:32 

256:32 think at the moment we really
256:35 

256:35 lacks that kind of leadership i wish
256:40 

256:40 there were
256:48 

256:48 thank you very much for the sentiments
256:49 

256:49 uh before we wrap up i would also like
256:51 

256:51 to ask the same question
256:52 

256:52 how should we manage this multiple
256:55 

256:55 stakeholders
256:56 

256:56 given their different interests
256:60 

257:00 uh the toughest question but uh i i
257:03 

257:03 i differ with indica a little bit on
257:06 

257:06 this because
257:07 

257:07 i don't think it's inevitable that we
257:09 

257:09 are going to take a side and i don't
257:11 

257:11 think it's
257:12 

257:12 um it's a certain i mean i don't think
257:15 

257:15 it's essential that we have to kill
257:17 

257:17 one way because the the way the world's
257:21 

257:21 powers are aligned at the moment there's
257:23 

257:23 china and russia
257:24 

257:24 on one side india u.s on one side
257:27 

257:27 um india is at the moment they've been
257:30 

257:30 humbled by the virus the economy is
257:32 

257:32 going to take a
257:33 

257:33 heavy toll i mean it's going to take a
257:35 

257:35 heavy toll on economy they're going to
257:36 

257:36 take a while to recover china
257:39 

257:39 although that was the birthplace of the
257:40 

257:40 virus china was the first to recover and
257:43 

257:43 china has been going at full stream
257:45 

257:45 since uh
257:46 

257:46 since then so at the moment it looks
257:48 

257:48 really good
257:49 

257:49 right for us to align ourselves with
257:52 

257:52 china
257:53 

257:53 but we don't know what's to come for
257:55 

257:55 india right
257:56 

257:56 if you looked at india in the 80s right
257:59 

257:59 you wouldn't have
257:60 

257:60 uh maybe predicted what was to come in
258:02 

258:02 the 90s and 2000s
258:03 

258:03 in terms of their rapid development so
258:06 

258:06 india should not be counted out at the
258:08 

258:08 moment so be
258:10 

258:10 and also remember china is far away
258:12 

258:12 right
258:13 

258:13 i mean distance wise geographies are far
258:15 

258:15 away india is right next to india can
258:17 

258:17 make life very very difficult for us
258:19 

258:19 if we completely shunned it so i think
258:22 

258:22 it's very important that we
258:24 

258:24 balance this so the sad thing is that
258:27 

258:27 you know for a country with the wealth
258:30 

258:30 that we have
258:31 

258:31 we will have to give certain concessions
258:34 

258:34 give certain
258:35 

258:35 um interests of ours or certain benefits
258:38 

258:38 to
258:39 

258:39 these companies to make sure that they
258:41 

258:41 stay friends with us
258:42 

258:42 and that's very important especially
258:44 

258:44 with uh
258:45 

258:45 india because they they really can make
258:47 

258:47 life for us
258:48 

258:48 uh the southern part of india especially
258:51 

258:51 can really make life evil for us
258:52 

258:52 and our economy really can't uh
258:56 

258:56 sustain uh that kind of blow at the
258:58 

258:58 moment so i think
258:59 

258:59 we need to balance it maybe this sport
259:01 

259:01 project and then there are some other
259:03 

259:03 projects that we can give to the
259:05 

259:05 investors because i don't really see how
259:07 

259:07 else we can balance this
259:09 

259:09 uh in the long run i think india will
259:11 

259:11 want
259:13 

259:13 certain uh benefits and certain projects
259:17 

259:17 thank you charindra thank you indica i
259:18 

259:18 know it's a busy
259:20 

259:20 evening because you have to take care of
259:22 

259:22 tomorrow's newspaper editions as well so
259:24 

259:24 thank you very much
259:25 

259:25 for joining us uh and uh for your
259:28 

259:28 commentary
259:29 

259:29 on the whole city bill uh posterity
259:30 

259:30 commission bill which was just
259:32 

259:32 uh passed or like just was passed a few
259:35 

259:35 hours ago
259:36 

259:36 at the uh parliament thank you very much
259:39 

259:39 and we'll be in touch again
259:41 

259:41 on a similar commentary on on a
259:42 

259:42 interesting public policy show
259:45 

259:45 uh with advocate basically we are more
259:49 

259:49 aligned with the economic side of public
259:51 

259:51 policy so we'll uh
259:52 

259:52 hopefully we'll joining back with you on
259:55 

259:55 a similar discussion thank you
259:56 

259:56 challenger and thank you