| "Against
all these challenges [of terrorism, heavy rains, floods
and earth
slips etc.] and complexities in our political economy,
our Government
sustained an economic growth in excess of 7 percent
during 2006 - a further
improvement from the growth of 6.2 percent in 2005.
Unemployment declined to
6 percent. We have seen an export growth of around 8
percent. We have
attracted overseas remittances of over 2 billion US
Dollars. We managed to
attract foreign investment in excess of 500 million
US Dollars - twice the
level of annual FDIs in our country. Income from tourism
exceeded 400
million US Dollars," said President Mahinda Rajapaksa
addressing the
inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Economic Forum -
2007, at Galle today.
President Rajapaksa added: "We
consider development in liberated regions and
in rest of the North and East as critical in promoting
sustainable peace and
finding meaningful solutions to many potential conflicts
within multi-ethnic
and multi-religious societies. I have no doubt that
our development partners
will therefore separate terrorism from a conflict in
a complex multicultural
society with many income and regional disparities,"
The Ministry of Finance and Planning
takes the leadership in organizing the
Sri Lanka Development Forum - 2007, which will be held
at the Light House
Hotel, Galle today and tomorrow.
In addition to the participation
of the Government at the highest level, the
Forum will have high level representatives from over
50 countries and
international donor agencies; representatives from the
private sector; NGOs,
Civil Society, Trade Unions and other stakeholders.
A total over 200
delegates are expected to participate. .
The President sad that: "Two
years ago, this city and several other areas of
Sri Lanka were damaged by the Tsunami. We take modest
pride in the fact that
this city and other areas so affected have now returned
to near normalcy and
that we have been able to hold this forum in this city
with the
participation of our development partners."
"The same speed of recovery
that we are witnessing in the south could have
been seen in the North and East as well, and we could
have probably
organized this forum in Trincomalee, if not for the
violence and terrorist
activities of the LTTE."
"We give high priority to a
nation-wide infrastructure network to accelerate
growth in lagging regions. In this context, accelerated
development in
electricity, irrigation, transport, seaports and airports,
and urban
amenities has been identified as key priorities under
"Randora" - the
Government's infrastructure development strategy."
Full
text of the statement:
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