Sri Lankan construction companies have been able to expand their activities into the international market and in Qatar alone, they have been able to secure contracts worth US$ 200 million. And this was at a time when the international economy is in the doldrums, said Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade at the annual sessions of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Construction Industry held recently at Hotel Galadari, which he attended as the Chief Guest.

Prof. Peiris said that the international economy is always subject to various instabilities, and at the present time also it is undergoing a tremendous crisis. Even the mighty US economy is not in good shape and two leading financial institutions have been vested in the Government.

In strategizing economic development of a country, one must correctly identify the fields and spheres in which the particular country has a comparative advantage and such areas should be given priority and prominence in matters relating to investment, technical assistance etc. In the case of Sri Lanka, the most valuable asset is its human resource and as such, investing in the people through education, social empowerment etc. should be treated as a priority, the Minister noted.

"In the light of such thinking, construction industry should be in the forefront".

Though in the past, our construction companies were constrained in their efforts to compete in the international market place due to lack of adequate capital and some outdated regulations in the statute books now it’s heartening to note that they are making progress in this sphere. Establishment of a separate Ministry too has apparently helped matters, Prof. Peiris said.

He also pointed out that though Sri Lanka has been exporting traditional items such as tea, rubber, coconut, garments, fruits and vegetables, gems and jewellery and other industrial products, it is only now that the country is gradually moving into the export of services. For example, Sri Lanka recently signed agreements with Qatar under which construction opportunities worth US$ 200 million were offered to Sri Lankan companies which in turn would have a trail-blazing effect throughout the Middle East.

Prof. Peiris admitted that certain existing regulations are out-dated and thus hinder the progress in the construction sphere and promised to take steps to ease the situation.

Whatever the economic theories may indicate, it is the duty of a Government to look after the interests of its own citizens, he noted. No country implemented the theory of the free market in instances where opening the floodgates for goods and services would affect the interests of its own citizens.

Referring to Japan and Korea as countries that nurtured their local industries through a regime of interference, Prof. Peiris said that in the case of construction industry in Sri Lanka it is an essential requirement to protect the nascent industry.