(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), an Organisation funded by the German parliament conducted a corporate discussion on Social Market Economy as a potential driver for economic growth and wealth in Sri Lanka, on Tuesday at Taj Samudra Colombo.
Wolfgang Heinze, Head of Operations in Sri Lanka of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF)at the introduction of the session explained that Social Market Economy is a widely recognized economic and social model and it stands for the combination of economic efficiency with social balance and is therefore considered a model of success. He said “Social market economy is also an economic order based on the ordoliberal idea that governments and markets both have essential roles to play in a modern, open society where everyone is free to compete without state intervention”.
The distinguished panel for discussion were Suresh Shah, Head of State owned Enterprise Restructuring (Sri Lanka), Justus Lenz, Policy Advisor Economics and Finance (FNF), Andreas Hergenrother, Joint Managing Director of JAAR Corporate Solutions (Germany). The discussion was moderated by Shamindra Kulamannage, the Co-Founder / Editor of Echelon Media.
Speaking at the panel discussion Suresh Shah told “creating an economy is not an easy task and it is very competitive. He said it doesn’t matter to Sri Lanka whether we build up a Social Market Economy, Capitalist Economy or Liberal Market Economy but whatever the model we implement it has to completely eliminate ‘Incompetency, Irresponsibility and Corruption’ of the politicians and authorities while strongly adopting a good governanceto achieve the goals of development. Shah also noted that it is mandatory to evaluate the performance of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and based on the status to decide on either restructuring or discontinuation or privatizing such ventures.
BY CLAUDE GUNASEKERA
