By NETHMI RAJAWASAM

ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lanka continues to lag behind in its integration into global production networks due to short-sighted goals of producing non-tradables over tradable goods that can be exported, oppositional legislator Harsha De Silva has said.

“There has been a significant growth in the non-tradable sector and production of non-tradable goods between 2010 and 2019. From the growth in the total economy’s production, 70 percent was from the non-tradables sector which cannot be traded in the international market,” the opposition MP said during a debate in Parliament recently.

Non-tradable goods include items such as public services, real estate and construction, goods with very high transportation costs, and commodities produced specifically to meet local retail consumers.

The MP said that due to shortsighted large infrastructure investments such as the development that has gone into the Hambantota area, Sri Lanka’s production has shown exponential growth in the non-tradables sector.

About 50 percent of the foreign direct investments that came into the country in 2000-2020 were directed towards the non-tradables sector, while only around 25 percent went into the export-oriented market, former Chairman of the Board of Investment Thilan Wijesinghe said at a forum organised by Advocata Institute recently.

“This way the non-tradable sector that was developed with the massive foreign loans was proven to produce short term development that was unsustainable in the long run,” Wijesinghe said.

“In 2010 economic growth was recorded at 8 percent, in 2011 it was 8.4 percent and in 2012, 9.1 percent, but in 2013 it was recorded that it was 3.4 percent,” De Silva said, following a trend that denotes that growth has since been declining, due to the unsustainability of the concentration of investment in the non-tradables sector.

De Silva said North East Asian countries that employed sustainable practices have successfully integrated themselves into global trade networks.

“Our outlook on production should speedily switch to tradable goods or else face the consequences of being unable to match exports with imports,” he said.

The legislator pointed out that the reason behind the popularity of such short term goals in Sri Lanka have been the opportunistic nature of leaders.

“Since the political aim of achieving short term growth in the non-tradable sector had been achieved in the past, essential trade and investment reforms had been neglected. As a result of this, Sri Lanka’s growth was significantly stifled and slowed, in relation to its equals in the region,” he said.