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I N G L O B A L T R A N S I T I O N
SRI LANKA
! SERENDIPITYPost Tsunami & Civil War
lobetrotters View Issue No 1
is stunning island nation of 63,000 sq km is replete with
legends of kings, concubines, and
edieval merchants who described this land with the Sanskrit word
Swarnadip orerendipity upon discovery of the islands vast wealth in
spices, gems, and surrounding
auty. The starting point in this pear-shaped island is with the
buzz of capital city Colombo,
then travels round long, clean coastal
beaches; up to the highlands - rich in
tea, rubber, and palm oil - and seven
fantastical UNESCO world heritage
sites; then east to deep tropical
jungles ... home to the worlds largest
population of leopards and sloth bear,
teeming birdlife, larger-than-life lizards,
elephants, and more.
own as British Ceylon for centuries, the British,
ch, and Portuguese came in search of the deep
er port, rubber, tea, and spices. British Admiral
ratio Nelson described Trincomalee harbor (now a
fing paradise) as the finest deep harbor in the world (evidently
he and Sir Stamford Raffles,
o exclaimed the same of Singapore just to the east at about the
same time in the 18th century, had not yet met to compare
notes?).
Yet before this, there were far richer kings, like King Kasapa
who ruled Sigiriya (Lion
Rock) in the 5th century CE. Having killed his father to inherit
the throne he moved his
palace atop an extinct volcano. Entering this fantastical lion
rock (left) aptly named, as
the gigantic entrance is carved disney-style in the shape of a
lion mouth and claws.
The climb up the 3 mile summit is no disney ride but it takes
you to the palace carved
entirely out of volcanic rock with beautifully painted ladies
(frescos) on all sides and an
extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, rooftop ballroom, and
bathing network, once
the respite of the King and his 500 concubines. With stunning
views of Sri Lanka from
rooms for several thousand attendants.... it is no wonder he
rarely left this rooftop
mansion!
Nowadays, serendipitous Sri Lanka has taken the best of its
colonial heritage, risen
above the Tsunami of 2004 (which destroyed half its coastline
and nearly 1mm people)
and left behind its 30-year struggle with the LTTE ( better
known as the Tamil Tigers).
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Although Sri Lanka enjoys a 94% literacy rate with all education
paid for by the government
(except uniforms, books, supplies and shoes... which we
purchased for these kids as
christmas gifts), its ratio of skilled to unskilled labor is
20:80. Therefore, Mr. Soysa, the
Deputy Minister of Education (pictured below), has issued open
invitations (with incentives)
to foreign universities to set up shop in Sri Lanka to fill the
labor gap. Needs for construction
management, entrepreneurship, export management, power
management, and agriculture,
are top on the list. Sri Lankans tell us they have accounting
and math/engineering in their
blood with a strong pool of talent in those areas that enable
them to excel in business
process outsourcing, but are poorly equipped in other areas to
meet job requirements. The
country plans to introduce a scheme to reverse the brain drain
and obtain knowledge and
services of some 1.5 MM Sri Lankans living abroad
(mostly in Oman) who remit the vast majority of
foreign reserves to this country. The issue is making
it easier to reissue Sri Lankan citizenship, as many
have become foreign nationals, or allow dual
citizenship, similar to Europe and America.
Despite only one medical university, the healthcare
system is quite strong with most surgeons schooled
abroad. Notably, imports of high-tech medical
equipment is good business and we were impressed
# # # # that Sri Lanka is now becoming wheelchair
# # # # compliant with all public buildings.
We met with a number of American Chamber of Commerce members
(left) who have
invested in Sri Lanka and asked their opinion about the downside
to doing business in Sri
Lanka or mistakes foreign companies might make when they enter
the country. Theyindicated labor laws are difficult to
understand and largely focused on the
worker ... one cannot hire and fire at
will, but can contract. The government
owns 80% of the land, and provides a
land-lease arrangement for only 30
years. Government corruption can be
an issue but is openly discussed and
gradually disappearing. Cultural aspects are often overlooked by
foreigners; Sri
Lankans are an indirect bunch, and offended by the direct
American approach. Lunch
is sacred and only social, so business lunch is non-existent.
Importantly, one needs
to tolerate weddings, festivals, and funerals as a priority
whereby the entire town and
company may be invited requiring a loss of 7 days of your entire
workforce for each
of these events. Additionally, the entire country shuts down for
their New Year for 2weeks in April. We witnessed several weddings,
usually held in hotels (e), often
happening early in the morning on a weekday!
Sri Lanka claims a democratic political environment ---- albeit
some argue it is ruled from the dinner table with top ministerial
posts
appointed to family members. Nevertheless, youll find this
country an agreeable place to do business, with a clean private
sector
accompanied by the often-heard bribery among police and
licensing among government officials (but getting better). Despite
this, the
Rajapaksa family is popular. President Rajapaksa hails from a
humble (vs. royal) background, and is a savvy political leader who
gains
support from key influencers among the all-important buddhists,
businesses, and backstreet villagers. He is pictured below atop a
van
barreling through the village with buddhist monks on loudspeaker
proclaiming blessings for his leadership. One could not ask for
better
PR. ...as a parallel, picture Italys Silvio Berlusconi being
paraded among the streets of Tuscany with the Pope proclaiming
his
benefits... not likely,but its a parody.
Rajapaksa is indeed credited with overcoming the LTTE or Tamil
Tiger
rebellion. Despite horrid civilian losses, Sri Lankans are quick
to remindus the LTTE were among the largest and most notorious of
human
traffickers, drug traffickers, pirates with large pirate vessels
perusing
the Indian Ocean between Africa and India, and arms suppliers to
Iran/
Pakistan/Somalia. With the help of U.S., U.K, and Chinese
anti-terrorist
groups, Sri Lanka was finally able to obliterate (and they
mean
obliterate) all of the LTTE leadership. They note even the
Tamils will
NOT MISS these Tigers as for the first time in 30 years 800,000
child
refugees forced into army camps at age 5 are for the first
time
experiencing a real education in new technical training
colleges
(including a Fredric Liebert leadership training program),
healthcare,
mobile phones, videogames, movies, television, shopping malls,
and
public transport. At the same time their provincial government
have
earned two (out of 9) significant seats in national government
and all
# # # # # # #farmers in the North receive subsidized fertilizers
and seed.
# # # # # # Go Figure... which world would you prefer?
Serendipity to be sure.
