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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Advocata Institute, I would like to warmly welcome you all to this press conference on Taxpayer Burden and the Urgency of State-Owned Enterprise Reform. First of all, I would like to thank the media representatives and journalists for accepting our invitation and being present for this occasion.

The topic of state-owned enterprise has been one of Advocata's core projects from its inception, and we have always done our best to bring public awareness to state-owned enterprises and how they impact our economy. It is no secret that state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, have contributed towards the economic crisis by absorbing land, labour and resources that otherwise could be used in a more efficient manner. They also add to the country's debt burden and reduce competitiveness by monopolising key industries.

This press conference was organised to discuss in particular the burden that SOEs place on taxpayers and the importance of pushing along the process of SOE reforms. This discussion will also cover other topics, such as reasons for the delays in SOE reforms, the impact of SOEs on consumer welfare and the new SOE reform policy. Joining us today, we have three distinguished speakers, Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, Financial Journalist.

The programme today will begin with introductory remarks from our three speakers, and afterwards we will open the floor for Q&A from the audience. The discussions will be held in Sinhala, English and Tamil, and you are encouraged to ask questions in any of the above languages. Our first speaker for the day will be Mr. Bananath Fernando, who will present his ideas in Sinhalese, followed by Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, who will give her remarks in English.

Finally, Mr. Shihar Anees will share his thoughts in Tamil. I would now like to invite our first speaker for the day, Mr. Bananath Fernando, to give his introductory remarks. Over to you.

Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala.

Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala.

Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala. Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, and Mr. Shihar Anees, who will give his introductory remarks in Sinhala.

Mr. Bananath Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, Ms. Rehana Tawfiq, Research Consultant for the Advocata Institute, The reason is that there is a shortage of funds. Because now we have to call the bid, cancel the bid, and call the bid again. No one wants to do that.

Because I think everyone knows, that there are hundreds of big companies who bid like this. They come, look at the outcome, look at the balance sheet. This is a big party, because they don't pay billions.

Like we say, when we buy a house in India, we don't buy it because it's expensive. We buy it because it's expensive. We don't buy it because it's expensive.

We buy it because it's expensive. If this doesn't happen in that environment, we will have a huge shortage. Also, from an international point of view, if we can't complete this in the next few years, we will have a huge shortage.

So, the main thing to do in this country is governance. Otherwise, we don't have to create a differentiated economic system. And also, we don't have to do this with a short-term threat.

Also, we all have to remember, I don't think the government will be able to do business with them. Because, all businesses are very expensive. If I start a business, or anyone else, it's expensive.

And again, corporate taxes are expensive. And the VAT is expensive. So, you have to go from 30 to profit.

You have to go from profit to 100. If you go from profit to 100, it's a big loss. Even if you combine those two, it's more than 150.

There's also SCCSL. If someone has to borrow more than 1,00,000 rupees, they have to pay for it. If you do business like that, you have to pay more than the businessman.

So, if someone is a businessman, you have to be very happy about it. Because if you don't do anything, you can earn a lot of money. But that only happens if there's a competition.

If there's a business in the state, it doesn't happen because of unification. That's the opposite. If the state has unification, and if it's in the hands of the public, the problem completely changes.

So, unification doesn't happen because the state has unification. But if there's a competition, it's very important to have this competition. But the reason for the competition is that it's only been 2 years since the economic crisis started.

And it's only been 2 years since the economic crisis started.

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