The Hon. Chathuranga Abeysinghe - Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, it is difficult to give a reply within four minutes.

¶ 02 This topic and the motion are very important. Our country suffered a 30-year war. In both the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the parties and leaders who once held power, those who helped them, their friends, and those who write on Facebook could not deliver even five cents’ worth of development to the North and East. Those who built their political power on nationalism are still trying to gain power on that basis. Today, Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim parties are united under one banner: the National People's Power. When the National People's Power Government moves to undertake economic development, crying out in pain will not help. We know that for countries that have gone through conflict, there are internationally accepted measures—justice for what happened, accountability, compensation, and steps to prevent recurrence. Even 16 years after the end of the war, previous administrations failed to implement these measures.

¶ 03 Under this topic, I wish to say that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industries are strongly intervening in the North and East. You could not even establish a single export processing zone in the North. Hon. Presiding Member, we have initiated the creation of export processing zones on 600 acres in Mankulam, KKS, and Paranthan. Beyond that, in export industries—agro-industries, fisheries industries, tourism industries, and IT industries—the North and East have immense potential. Last month, I visited the North and East and met exporters. There are 22 exporters. The issues faced by these 22 could not be resolved by previous administrations for so long. The necessary programme for that has already been commenced by the Export Development Board.

¶ 04 Awareness programmes and the establishment of an Export Development Board office in the area are underway. Within the next five months, 300 small and medium-scale exporters will be identified and supported. The Department of Small and Medium Enterprise Development has allocated Rs. 12 million this year specifically for the North, and funds are also being allocated for the East. Work is already being carried out with five selected exporters.

¶ 05 When you look at this process, even providing necessary logistics for exporters could not be done by former rulers. We especially need an air service connecting the North and the South for the export sector.

¶ 06 There are also many issues in the fisheries sector. For years, you could not even establish a port for multi-day boats. We wish to state that provisions required for all those interventions have now been allocated. Sea cucumber aquaculture in the fisheries sector is being promoted and is currently growing rapidly. This industry now spans 1,738 acres. Thereafter, for selected export sectors such as lobster farming and seaweed cultivation, we are providing the facilities necessary for those industries.