Sri Lanka As A Breakout Nation
By W.A Wijewardena -February 11, 2013
Dr W.A. Wijewardena
Sri Lanka as a Breakout Nation: Much more to be done to make it a reality
Sri Lanka: Breakout nation plus the Wonder of Asia
The latest development tagline added to Sri Lanka is that it can be the next “Breakout Nation”.
The Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal is reported to have first expressed this view when he addressed the best annual reports awards ceremony organised by the Smart Media in Colombo in August 2012. Later this was reconfirmed by him with a slight modification when he presented the Central Bank’s Road Map for 2013 in January 2013. In his first address, the Governor had been emphatic about the fact that Sri Lanka has already been a breakout nation and, therefore, had advised the Sri Lankan companies to expand and showcase themselves to the rest of the world (available here ). However, in the Road Map presentation, the breakout nation concept has been tied with the country’s existing development tagline, “the Wonder of Asia”, subject to a minor qualification. That qualification is that “if Sri Lanka can be successful in the next three years”, it “can surely be the next breakout nation” implying that it has to do a lot more to realise that goal (available here ).
Breakout nation should not be a mere wishful thinking
When a development tagline is announced by a leading official, it is picked up by others and engraved as a permanent phrase in the country’s development policy lexicon of the day. Accordingly, the newly elected President of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, veteran entrepreneur, management expert and quality Guru Sunil Wijesinghe, in his installation address warned that the achievement of breakout nation goal should not lead to economic divide and should not be confined to a mere “wishful thinking”. Having drawn the attention of his audience to previous unsuccessful episodes of seeking to benchmark the country to similar catchy goals like becoming a Newly Industrialised Country or NIC in early 1990s, he went on to emphasise the need for having a coordinated strategic plan to make “the breakout nation goal” a reality (available here ).
Ruchir Sharma: Sri Lanka has the potential of becoming a breakout nation
