{"id":198468,"date":"2019-01-31T18:40:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T13:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=198468"},"modified":"2019-02-03T01:40:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T20:10:41","slug":"sri-lanka-enjoying-the-best-of-both-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lanka-enjoying-the-best-of-both-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Enjoying The Best Of Both Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Trevor Jayetileke &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_198470\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Trevor-Jayetileke.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-198470\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-198470\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Trevor-Jayetileke-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Trevor-Jayetileke-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Trevor-Jayetileke-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-198470\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trevor Jayetileke<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The end of 2018 was the end of 70 years of Independence from Britain in1948. Politically the last quarter of 2018 was so horrible that 2018 as a whole was dubbed as \u201cAnnus Horibilis\u201d. The 70 years that ended in such a fashion is now behind us as the past and Sri Lanka can look<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>to a dawn of a new era which we all hope will be the Golden Years for Sri Lanka and I say this will all sincerity that we are a Nation<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>that deserves<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>a period<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>that is better than what we have gone through and our resilience has been tested to the full and we have survived to have got a second chance to put things right.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The three main Nationalities the majority Sinhalese, and the two minorities the Tamils and Muslims live in peace and harmony and I hope this can continue uninterrupted without<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Political interference from within<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and manipulation of minorities from outside to satisfy their own Agendas. Our visionless Leaders have brought our Economy and Finances to a point when lifting it from the mire will not be an easy task. Even after 150 years our Tea industry is struggling to<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>get its act together. We have borrowed to such dizzy heights<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>that formulating our<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>budget becomes an<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>annual nightmare. Our total debts are at about 80% of our GDP and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>our revenue just enough to service it.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Suddenly the World realises that we are today<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in a \u2018Geographically<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Sweet Spot\u2019<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>that is the envy of both the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>East and West in a good sense that both are seeking our attention and giving us presents. According to Rudyard Kipling the East ( mainly China and Japan ) and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the West (mainly the US with India)<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>are playing the \u201cGreat Game\u2019 and at this point in time<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in the Indian Ocean. After WW2 this Game was played in the South China Sea when Japan was calling the shots and Singapore was Geographically placed to receive the attention that we now enjoy .<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>China has become<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the No.2 economy of the World driving the Asia Pacific in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century \/ the \u2018Asian Century\u201d. The US had its Pacific Command well positioned with Naval<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Fleets<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in South Korea and Japan., while Britain had its South East Command in Singapore and ruled the Waves and possessed<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the HK lease till 1997.<\/p>\n<p>Today<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>China rules the waves of the Indian Ocean with our Hambantota Port leased for 99 years through its BRI initiative. The Port City of Colombo has seen the reclamation work completed<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and now ready for Phase 2. The Chinese \u201cLotus Tower\u201d was fully lit for the first time on the 29<sup>th<\/sup> of January 2019 and will be ready for business in March 2019 and will be the \u201cLight of Asia\u201d., for ships passing bye at night and will see the \u201cTear Drop\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>shaped<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Lanka for miles and miles of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>SEA LANE.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The US has established its \u201cAsian Pivot\u201d in Trincomalee in December 2018 and the US Pacific Command has changed its name as the \u2018Indo Pacific Command\u2019 to accommodate<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the Indian neighbourly love for us and the wider Asia Pacific that was never there before.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>However the APEC annual conference was held in PNG at the end of November 2018 and XI Jingping the President of China had a \u2018Red Flag and Red Carpet\u201d Welcome<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>never seen by APEC member nations before and after 40 years of<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>joining the Free market Economy of the World China has emerged the second largest economy of the World and has a GDP of US$14 Trillion against the US$20 Trillion of the USA.<\/p>\n<p>Our \u2018Economic Model\u2019<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>of Tea and Sympathy has<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>kept us in<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>a 70 year<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u2018Time Trap\u2019<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and I believe if we are to shrink our Bad Debts we cannot do it only through Exports and FDI\u2019s and must include Energy ( Crude Oil ) as a Anchor like having<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>LNG<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in our \u201cBase Load\u201d balanced mix of the National Electricity Grid. If we say we are a predominantly a Buddhist Country we have to live by<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>its Precepts and draw on the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Wisdom from the Tooth Relic<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in the Pentagon of the Dalada Maligawa<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>in Kandy.<\/p>\n<p><em>*Trevor Jayetileke &#8211; Energy Consultant<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":408,"featured_media":198470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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