War over but what about the future?

Sri Lankan Ambassador Ivan Amarasinghe talked to Viet Nam News about post-war prospects on the occasion of Sri Lanka's National Day today.

Recently President Rajapaksa has been re-elected with a large majority. Could you comment on this?

Ambassador Ivan Amarasinghe.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been re-elected by the largest majority in any Presidential election so far. That shows the consent of the Sri Lankan people on his vision for the future of Sri Lanka under "Mahinda Chinthana". The whole of Sri Lanka rejoiced at his successful military victory over the terrorists ushering in a sustainable peace and stability for the country after 30 years of national mayhem. Concurrently, President Rajapaksa has delivered tangible progress to all strata of Sri Lankan society through his vision and mission for Sri Lanka through "Mahinda Chinthana". It is much similar to the Vietnamese concepts of "Doi Moi". Under such circumstances, President Rajapaksa has already proven that he is arguably the best national leader Sri Lanka has produced for centuries as a defender of the unity of the country and a philosopher with a clear progressive vision for Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won the hearts and minds of the Sri Lankan peoplo(

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Viet Nam last October. How did the visit go?

The state visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to your beautiful country was a crowning moment in our relations that have been steadily improving for years, particularly since Sri Lanka opened a resident mission in Ha Noi in 2003. During our president's visit, a number of bilateral agreements were signed and both sides agreed to co-operate in many spheres. One of the most important outcomes of this visit was the signing of the Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement. Memoranda of understanding on co-operation on the transfer of technology in agriculture and fisheries and development were signed and action plans are currently in progress. We also held a very successful Investment and Business Forum in HCM City. As a result, many Vietnamese investors now have a broader understanding of the opportunities in Sri Lanka and are looking at doing business there. This is an encouraging sign.

Now that the war is over with the Tamil Tigers, will there be more investment opportunities?

I'm very happy to note that Viet Nam was one of our closest allies in our fight against terrorism, especially in the multilateral arena. Since the defeat of the terrorists, many investment and trade opportunities have opened up in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan share market is one of the best performing markets in the world. It has recorded over one hundred per cent growth since the end of the conflict in May 2009. This is a testament to the confidence shown in the Sri Lankan economy. While the share market is setting new records, our foreign reserves have hit historic levels, inflation is now in the lower single digits and interest rates have been steadily coming down. Even with the global downturn, Sri Lanka was able to record GDP growth of 4.5 per cent in 2009. Due to these factors, foreign investors are increasingly looking to invest in Sri Lanka.

Sri lanka at a glance

Area: 65,610sq.km Population: Over 20.2 million Capital: Colombo Language: Sinhala, Tamil and English Currency: Sri Lanka Rupee National Flag: The flag is dark red with a gold border. A lion stands in the centre holding a sword in its right paw. A representation of a bo leaf decorates each of the corners. On the right side of the flag are two vertical stripes, one saffron and the other green with a gold border, to represent the two major ethnic groups.

Vietnamese business people now have a fabulous opportunity to make the most of our excellent bilateral relations and the recently signed Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement to invest in Sri Lanka. Your expertise in agriculture, aquaculture and construction will open up many opportunities in a now rapidly rising Sri Lankan economy. There is a concerted reconstruction drive in the northern and eastern parts of the country which were most affected by the thirty years of conflict. In these areas, infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications, schools, and hospitals are now being built. There are many opportunities for other nations to be involved in this process. In particular, Viet Nam has made sound official overtures of interest in the north and the eastern areas of Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and reconstruction projects. These are areas of considerable expertise in the light of the post-war Vietnamese reconstruction and rehabilitation successes. With the imminent state visit by the Prime Minister of Viet Nam to Sri Lanka, and the availability of aid already assigned for these vast development projects, we foresee relevant new bilateral agreements signed and activated in the very near future.

Viet Nam and Sri Lanka signed an agreement on agriculture co-operation for the period 2010-13. What activities are included in the programme?

Sri Lanka is famous for its Ceylon tea. It is also the third largest tea producer in the world. — Photo Courtesy of the Embassy

Viet Nam and Sri Lanka are well known for their successful agricultural practices. Both countries have experienced phases of deterioration in traditional practices associated with the last few centuries of colonialism and internal strife. However, post-colonial Viet Nam has successfully regenerated its agricultural productivity and diversity. For example, it has progressed within a brief period to the status of being the second largest exporter of rice in the world and has made rapid progress in fruit and vegetable exports. We hope to improve interaction between the two countries in agriculture. Sri Lanka would like to learn from Viet Nam's post war experience with agriculture. Transfer of traditional as well as modern agricultural technology is considered a crucial area of mutual interest in this. We have been a net rice importer even though our production has been hovering around 100 per cent self sufficiency for several years. We hope to improve this production so that Sri Lanka would achieve the target of self sufficiency. In a world of continuing shortages of rice supply and other agricultural produce, we hope to be partners in our future efforts to increase supply of agricultural products. This necessitates bilateral co-operation at various levels such as cultivation of crops to post-harvest technology and business entrepreneurship.

Tamil rebels waged a long war against government forces for a separate state. The conflict caused extensive damage to the economy, including tourism. How will the country rebuild its tourism industry?

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in Sri Lanka. There is vast room for development on our paradisiacal island. On an immediate and positive note, since the end of the internal strife last year, there has been a 20 per cent increase in tourist arrivals. Visitors know Sri Lanka to be a remarkable destination. The Eastern Province, which has some of the most spectacular beaches, is now completely open to tourism.

With regard to our past outlook in promoting tourism on a global basis, we note a skewed over-expectation from the European and American continents. With some key governments expressing official concerns over safety, tourist numbers from these target countries have drastically reduced. Therefore, it may need time for post-war Sri Lanka to expect large influxes of such tourists. However, recent statistics indicate that Sri Lanka can learn from the post-war experiences of prospering tourist destinations such as Malaysia, which has an annual influx of 18 million tourists, and Viet Nam, which has increased its tourist influx from 1.8 million in 1998 to nearly 5 million in 2008. There is no doubt that post-war Viet Nam has taken over 15 years to attain a significant level of tourism but what is noteworthy is that in the past ten years Viet Nam has seen an extraordinary growth in tourist numbers – a 286 per cent rise since 1998. The reasons for this appears to be the new approach to multi-country, intra-regional tourism as opposed to singularly targeted developed states. Even though intra-regional, essentially ASEAN states and China, accounted for 78 per cent of tourists to Viet Nam in 2008, air-travel has been the main mode of transport. This indicates an increasing prosperity among the vast population of this fast developing region. Viet Nam is currently the chair of ASEAN. We, in Sri Lanka and as the current chair of the densely populated and equally fast developing group of countries in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation), must fully address the potential for intra-regional tourism. — VNS