Embassy of the United States

Letters and Speeches

Remarks to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce Awards Ceremony
By Ambassador Robert O. Blake, December 12, 2006

Thank you for inviting me here today to celebrate with you the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Awards Ceremony.  I’m honored to be here and to have the chance to recognize the success of Sri Lanka’s most talented entrepreneurs. 

Let me first congratulate the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry for organizing this event to promote business excellence.  These awards celebrate the business achievements of Sri Lanka’s firms and help to promote a culture of innovation, forward-looking management and overall excellence.

The Federation’s energetic efforts in development of small and medium size enterprises through your 53 member chambers and associations are also important to note and praise.  As in America, small and medium size business is the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy.  I also commend the participatory approach of the Chamber, where business people come together to form trade chambers and recognize their peers is an effective bottom-up approach. 

The winners of tonight’s awards came through a rigorous and exacting process in which their financial strength, management style, employment generation capacity, technology used, competitiveness and future viability all were evaluated against the achievements of their peers.  Only the best of the best will be honoured tonight, a high honor indeed.     

Ladies and gentlemen, Sri Lanka today stands at a pivotal crossroads in its national history.  There are those who favour a military solution to the conflict that has divided and weakened your country for more than two decades.  And there are those, like my country the United States, that believe that the only solution to this terrible conflict is a process of sustained, substantive negotiations that takes into account the legitimate interests and aspirations of communities, whether Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or others. 

Sri Lanka took a major step toward that goal last week when a panel of experts submitted to the All Parties Committee reports with detailed devolution proposals.  Sri Lanka’s parties now have a clear and present opportunity to craft together a power-sharing blueprint that can form the basis for talks with the LTTE.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the way forward, not continued fighting that already has left thousands of killed and wounded and hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens displaced.   

The business community cannot be neutral in this debate.  When I talk to local business leaders, as I make a point of doing frequently, they tell me that the single most important thing that can be done to enhance the climate for business is for the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to reach a durable peace settlement that meets the aspirations of all Sri Lanka’s communities. 

The violence and hostilities of the last six months already are having an impact on Sri Lanka’s economy.  Sri Lanka’s Hoteliers Association estimates that the main hotels in Sri Lanka will experience a 60% drop in occupancy during the upcoming peak tourist season because of the violence.  But the costs go much deeper. They include direct costs such as the higher military and relief expenditures that are required that might otherwise have gone to more productive uses, and the infrastructure that must be replaced.   They also include such indirect costs as income lost from forgone public investment, reduced foreign direct investment, and the high costs of supporting internally displaced people. 

If Sri Lanka can cease hostilities and seize the opportunity afforded by the SLFP-UNP initiative to enter into lasting peace talks, peace could have a very positive dividend for the business community and the rest of the country.   

These challenges sound daunting, but Sri Lankans have faced economic challenges before and come out ahead.  Business leaders like all of you can lead the way.  You should be proud of the resilience of your economy and your country.

Likewise, this year’s winners of the Sri Lanka National Entrepreneur of the Year awards have shown that nothing is impossible. They owe their achievements to vision, dedication and hard work.  I urge all of you to apply that same resolve and purpose so your country can realize its great promise and potential.  

Once again, I wish to warmly congratulate the regional and national winners of the Sri Lanka National Entrepreneur of the Year awards.  I hope that this national endeavor will grow in strength, and become a principal catalyst for spreading the spirit of entrepreneurship throughout the country.

Thanks you for the opportunity to participate in this important celebration tonight.  My heartiest congratulations to all of the winners.  

Thank you.