Competitiveness is essentially winning and holding on to customers. The speaker also said that in Sri Lanka, 'lots' of training is done at the lower level, but local CEOs are exposed to 'very little' management training. What need to be in place is improved productivity and value addition. We are part of a globalised economy due to the policy reforms of 1977, which changed the direction of the country from a highly regulated economy, to a liberalised economy, resulting in the relaxation of exchange, import and price controls, Fonseka added. It changed Sri Lanka from being an inward looking import substitution led economy, to an export led outward economy.
Competitiveness is first global and then local.
And we took that decision in 1977, Fonseka further said. We are apart of the global economy. Garment factories are engaged in a price war against each other, thereby being left with pea-nuts for factory modernisation, he said. Investment funds must be invested in the business if it is to improve, the speaker said. Citing examples of such investments in the world over, Fonseka said that car manufacturers are in the process of making vehicles that automatically dial the ambulance and police numbers in the event of an accident.