Embassy of the United States

Letters & Speeches 

Remarks by Charge d’Affaires James R. Moore At Sri Lanka America Society Seminar on  “The Current State of the Sri Lankan Economy and Challenges that Lie Ahead”

June 30, 2008, Galle Face Hotel Colombo

Good evening ladies and gentleman,

As always, it is a pleasure to be here with our friends from the Sri Lanka America Society.   We are honored that Dr. Saman Kelegama, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies, has agreed to speak to us this evening on the topic of "The Current State of the Sri Lankan Economy and Challenges that Lie Ahead."  This is a subject about which everyone in Sri Lanka is concerned.  It has likely been keeping Central Bank economists and the Institute’s Macroeconomic Policy Unit up late at night.   I look forward to hearing Dr. Kelegama’s insights.

Speaking for many of my fellow Americans, we sympathize with Sri Lankans about the economy – and, indeed, many U.S. citizens are concerned about our own economy.   Naturally, the path to stronger economic growth for the United States and Sri Lanka will be different because our two economies face different circumstances and challenges.   However, I thought it might be of interest to our audience this evening to briefly highlight three of the initiatives that President Bush’s Administration is taking and recommending to bolster the U.S. economy.

• First, in February, President Bush signed into law an economic growth package, which is putting over $150 billion back into the hands of America's workers and businesses this year. The economic growth package is expected to help create more than half a million jobs by the end of 2008. So far, the Treasury Department has sent out more than 66 million income tax rebate checks totaling almost $57 billion.  I have not seen mine yet, but being a good American consumer , if I receive one, I plan to go right out and spend it – and I’ll do that of course here  in Sri Lanka!
• Second,  President Bush is encouraging Congress to make his earlier tax relief measures  permanent.  Tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 fueled economic growth and reduced the tax burden on citizens.  If those tax cuts are not extended, taxes will increase, and that could slow new investment and growth.
• Finally, the Administration has taken and will continue to take aggressive actions to help Americans keep their homes, including assisting some families in avoiding foreclosures.

Of course, being an active participant in the international market helps the American economy to continue to grow.  With 95% of the potential customers for American products living outside the United States, selling to the international market makes good business sense.   And enhancing economic ties between countries is not only good for the United States, it is good for other countries’ economies as well. 

That is part of the reason why, in 2002, the United States and Sri Lanka entered into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIFA.   The TIFA aims to enhance our bilateral trade relationship while promoting increased investment.  The TIFA Council  -- for the U.S., the lead agency is the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, while for Sri Lanka it is the Ministry of Export Development and International Trade --  meets approximately once a year at a high level to review our trade relationship and look at how we can work together to facilitate expanded trade and cooperation.  

In fact, the TIFA Council met in Washington about a month ago, at the end of May.  Minister G.L. Peiris led the Sri Lankan delegation, and Ambassador Blake also traveled to Washington to participate in the talks.  The two sides reviewed the status of the ongoing WTO/Doha negotiations, Sri Lanka’s use of the preferential tariffs the U.S. offers to developing countries, U.S. trade capacity building assistance to Sri Lanka, and market access issues for specific sectors.   Intellectual property rights protection and transparency in government procurement were also on the agenda.  My government firmly believes that enhanced trade can improve the living standards of people in developing economies.  Statistics and a number of development success stories confirm this. For that reason, we at the Embassy will continue to do all that we can to promote robust trade and investment relations between the United States and Sri Lanka.

I don’t want to take up too much time, so let me stop here.   Dr. Kelgegama, thank you again for speaking to the Sri Lanka America Society this evening, and I look forward to what I’m sure will be an interesting and timely presentation.