The Hon. (Prof.) Ruwan Ranasinghe - Deputy Minister of Tourism

¶ 01 [10.24 a.m.]

¶ 02 Mr. Speaker, thank you. I also thank the people of Sri Lanka for granting the NPP a strong mandate to implement our proposals and plans.

¶ 03 Since Independence, successive governments have failed to place our economy on the right path. A large segment of our people was excluded from economic processes; state enterprises were run down; cottage, small and medium industries collapsed. On this economic destruction rests the massive mandate given to the NPP.

¶ 04 People developed resentment toward those politicians and drove them out. The public—especially educated youth—demanded a real system change. That is the change this mandate now expects of us.

¶ 05 Consider the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation—a potentially profitable enterprise mismanaged into losses. Even fuel distribution could not be conducted at least at cost; state banks were left with massive debts, leading to today’s price structures, including the Rs. 50 levy per litre.

¶ 06 We face immense economic challenges: to rehabilitate a bankrupt economy, to reintegrate excluded citizens, to raise living standards, strengthen household incomes, and build a productive economy. The President set out that path in his policy statement.

¶ 07 Within that, I wish to focus on tourism. Globally, tourism is a major economic sector, and Sri Lanka has seen some progress lately—thanks to public officials and those political leaders who drove this industry forward in recent times.

¶ 08 Tourism, one of the fastest-growing global industries, can expand economic opportunities for ordinary Sri Lankans. Our coastline and marine life, wildlife and forests, and cultural heritage can anchor unique tourism products. Previous administrations failed to sufficiently develop and market these products.

¶ 09 In 1960, when we began commercial aviation, Thailand received about 120,000 tourists a year while Sri Lanka received around 60,000. Today we still speak of two million arrivals, while Thailand targets 36 million this year. They succeeded because they planned: national policies for the future, clear choices of priority industries, and disciplined execution—not the patronage and racketeering that plagued us.

¶ 10 During COVID-19, we saw protected areas opened for certain private interests and returning migrant workers channelled to specific hotels—clear examples of corrupt practices that the people rejected. It is not national dress or culture that people rejected; they rejected corrupt deals carried out under that guise.

¶ 11 We plan to harness global tourism’s potential for Sri Lanka and link ordinary people—craftsmen in distant villages, farmers near Wilpattu’s border—into this value chain. To that end, we have prepared a National Tourism Policy.