Improving local products

Minister Prof.Tissa Vitharana has made a very pertinent observation that should provide much food for thought to those attempting to promote local production and local industries.

Addressing a National Productivity awards ceremony the Minister said the country can develop only if our local products and services could successfully compete with the foreign products flooding the local market. He also said that Sri Lanka can succeed in marketing its products internationally only if we attain certain benchmarks.

Being a die hard socialist one can appreciate the stand of Prof. Vitharana's on the need for improving local production. It was his illustrious uncle the late Dr. N.M.Perera when he was Finance Minister who placed a moratorium on imports and was in the vanguard in the campaign to instill indigenous habits in the public.

That was a time of import substitution when the public was made to adapt to things home grown ranging from food to textiles and other improvisations in an effort to prevent the flight of foreign exchange.

The move while laying emphasis on local resources to sustain the economy and saving the country from plunging into unnecessary debt also gave a fillip to local industries which had no fear of competition. However the restrictions did not prove popular with the public which led to the downfall of the UF Government.

Had the people been more patient and endured the hardships the country would have been able to reap the economic benefits of this policy in later years.

The prudence of these policies were vindicated with the advent of the open economy which allowed for the unchecked inflow of imported goods into the country with a heavy drain on our foreign exchange. The public caught up in the novelty went for the imported variety of things even if these were available locally and of better quality.

Therefore we are doubtful if the public whose psyche have been conditioned to things foreign in a milieu of unbridled consumerism can be persuaded to go for local goods contrary to the expectation of the good professor.

Therefore while providing incentives for local industries to flourish the emphasis should be on quality which was not paid much attention to during the earlier era. The accent should be on 'Value Added' if Prof.Vitharana's hope of attracting the local market is to be realised.

A vigourous campaign should be launched on the lines of the "Buy India" slogan used in some states in our giant neighbour where people are asked to boycott foreign products.

People should be instilled with a pride in opting for the local product and incentives provided for quality improvement that would make this a reality.

For, today a majority of the public are being brainwashed by the various commercials advertising multinational brands on TV. The glaring disparity could be seen by the total relegation of local products. In such a scenario we wonder whether the local product would be attractive to the consumer as envisaged by the Minister.

Unlike countries such as Japan Sri Lanka does not have an industrial base to have any hope of competing in the international market in this sphere. Even if we have skilled personnel there is no space for giving rein to initiatives.

We are yet to hear of the outcome of all those trade fairs held in world capitals showcasing the country's products. Has any follow up action been taken to assess the market potential of these products ?

Therefore while emphasizing on Value Added a wider programme should be implemented for promoting Sri Lanka's wares in the global market. First of all a necessary climate should be created for local initiative to thrive.

Regrettably we are still functioning as an assembly outpost for products of other countries. There has not been any serious attempt to reach new frontiers in innovation. Even our agricultural base is not fully exploited when there is much potential.

Sri Lanka, a country with abundant resources should have by now been famous for many commodities other than our tea. But somewhere along the road the impetus was lost where we now have to virtually look for imports for our survival.

The Government should therefore make a fresh initiative in getting Sri Lanka into the hub of world trade and provide incentives to raise the quality benchmark of local products to fetch a good market abroad.