This is video from a visit to the Ko Lanka weaving factory near Kandy. It’s a very cool space, all old-school machinery and spinning things and bright colors. I visited there with BizPact because Ko Lanka is one Sri Lankan business looking to expand. Specifically, they’re looking for investment to set up their own dyeing plant. Of all the places we visited it was one of the more developed businesses, already exporting silk garments and selling handlooms here and abroad. There are, I would say, a lot of people involved in the garment industry in Sri Lanka. There are industrial plants making underwear (and millions of dollars) but also smaller operations making outer clothes, and money. More importantly, they create jobs.

I’m on the train back from Anuradhapura. Spoke to a member of the Chamber Of Commerce there, Mr. Amal Piyathilake. Young guy, quite energetic. He said they planned to bring the capital back to Anuradhapura in 2020, in all seriousness. He mentioned one issue they were having there which I thought I’d relate. Apparently, and a few chaps told me this, it’s very difficult to get deeds for land. They calculate that the documents have to pass across 48 desks, and there are significant conflicts between the Provincial Councils and Colombo. The end result is no land, no collateral, and no capital for local business. Which is bad.

I’ve been travelling around, mostly the south. I don’t talk about politics, but stuff still comes up. What’s surprising (as in I’m an idiot) is that people outstation have more nuanced views than ‘LTTE bad, Mahinda good’. Duh. One issue that comes up is cronyism. Positions, contracts and money go to people connected to power rather than the capable chaps. Which is, in my experience, obvious. It seems to be obvious to people outstation as well, and they’re not happy about it.

The Business For Peace Alliance forum was somewhat tame till a few Tamil gentleman got up to speak. There is great hope and opportunity, but there is still a lot of hurt and deprivation among the Tamil community. People usually don’t talk about it, but these guys did. Above is a YouTube of one gentlemen doing a test to see what languages people in the audience understood. And discussing the language issue thereupon, in Sinhala. At some point some Sinhalese gentlement in the back got up and started yelling at him to stop politicizing things. Then Secretary Rajiva Wijesinha (Ministry of Disaster Management, fittingly) got up to calm things down. Good show I thought, true, and everyone shook hands after.

Through this BizPact (Business For Peace Alliance) visit I met a few small businessmen in Trincomalee. Ranging from IT to rice mills to land development, there is a range of development going on in Trinco, and excited and capable people to carry it out. These are some YouTube interviews/conversations with a few people. The video above is a member of the Trinco with remarkable enunciation. He’s talking generally about two big opportunities, tourism and fishing. The other YouTubes are conversations about programs for farmers, IT students as well as investment opportunities in concrete businesses like condominium development.

I’m in Trincomalee. For the first time in a long time I’m genuinely excited, by the same hope that brought me back to this country. Met a bunch of local small businessman at the local of Chamber Of Commerce and they’re excited to grow. Traveling with a bunch of diaspora investors and they’re excited to invest. Everybody is willing to work together to develop this wonderful country. Trinco itself is a bountiful and long neglected place, now poised and ready to grow. Boom even, and no artillery this time.

I’m on tour bus near Ibbagamuwa but the Dialog 3G still connect. Travelling with this Business For Peace group to see development opportunities in Trinco. Passing through Kurunegala also met a young man who’s excited about the chance to develop the soil of mother Lanka. Into red clay tiles. There is business just burgeoning to happen, and I think that is the best hope for peace. Not security or stability, but peace.

What every Sri Lankan needs is a chance to develop this bountiful land. More than resolutions or aid, this will improve peoples lives. To that end, BizPAct is having a symposium and regional tours this month to promote investment in Sri Lanka. This Business For Peace Alliance is, IMHO, the best thing we can do right now. Relief must be ‘given’ right now but this is neither sustainable nor right in the long run. At some point people can and will move from being alive to making a living. Sri Lanka will develop. I personally think it’s a good time to invest.