A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, August 29, 2019
South African Business Role In Creating Sustainable Peace & A Stable Economy
Across the world, South Africa was seen as a pariah state because of apartheid that separated races…. We were ostracised by the international community
2019-07-18
What would be the role of businesses in creating a sustainable economic
resurgence? Speaking from experience, South African High Commissioner
Robina Marks stated that the primary role of businesses is to play an
active part in uniting a country, for both their own survival and
sustainability, and for the country’s economic development.
“Across the world, South Africa was seen as a pariah state because of
apartheid that separated races…. We were ostracised by the international
community,” she said, adding that the international anti-apartheid
movement successed in applying sanctions against South Africa. This in
turn snowballed into civil society, who refused to buy and consume South
African products, as that was seen as tantamount to condoning
apartheid.
The country soon hit an all-time low, as the South African economy was in free-fall.
“From the mid-1980s, foreign governments and businesses cut many
economic ties with South Africa, and in 1985, international banks began
refusing to roll over short-term debt with the result that, over the
next year, the country would have to pay one billion US dollars in
loans. Inflation rose to 16 percent, the currency tumbled and the
government introduced exchange controls. By 1986, over 100
multinationals had disinvested from South Africa,” the High Commissioner
said.
However, the country was able to turn themselves around, in just 25
years. South Africa is now considered to be a leader in the African
continent, with a GDP of USD385 billion, compared to Sri Lanka, which
has a GDP of USD90 billion. High Commissioner Marks attributes this to
an invisible role played by their business community and private sector.
She does reveal that the reason businesses played such a leading role
was that they ‘quite frankly, didn’t have a choice.’ The economy was
down, domestic consumption was down, and the international export market
was shrinking. In this climate, the private sector had two choices — to
help the apartheid government and white society, or to help build a
climate of trust in which the political leaders could move the country
towards a more stable future. They chose the latter.
The role played by the business community
In moving towards a more prosperous and united future, the private sector banded together to push South Africa towards success.
“They funded efforts at maintaining the peace. They knew that it was in
their own interest to make concessions around a decent living wage that
would quell the many industrial strikes that we had at the time. Many of
them improved their working conditions, improved salaries to workers,
and offered scope for promotion to their black workforce.”
They basically helped to market the vision of a non-racist South Africa to the international community.
“They were vocal about the fact that the country was on the right track,
that good, fair and inclusive governance could also be good for
business, and more importantly, because they had vested personal and
business interests, that they had no intention of leaving. So when
prominent companies like Anglo American started “selling” the new SA,
the outside world took notice that there would be no local capital
flight,” she said.
Another point of importance was that the business leaders all stayed
back. According to her excellency Marks, ‘nothing demonstrates
confidence in a country more than staying and not leaving for what might
be seen as greener pastures.’
The High Commissioner made these remarks at a panel discussion on The
Role of Business in Sustainable Economic Resurgence, conducted by the
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at their 180th Annual General Meeting held
recently.
Responding to a query by the moderator, Ganaka Herath, on what could be
done for gender equality, Ms. Marks highlighted that socio-cultural
expectations of women needing to stay at home, had to change.
“I think that we all know that female participation in the workforce has
gone down considerably, by 10% - 12%; because of unfriendly
environments. There isn’t a sense of understanding work-life
challenges,” she said, adding that we all needed more men like her
co-panelists — Dr. A.T Ariyarathne and Mahesh Amalean — as role models.
The business of business is not only business, she stressed, and any
company that ignores the impact that an uncertain external political
environment have on their bottom line is doomed to fail.