Sri Lanka's Role in the World's Most Populous Region

Tomas Pueyo recently wrote an article “Why Half of Humanity Lives in This Circle”. The circle he is referring to is known as the Valeriepieris circle as it was posted on the site Reddit by Ken Myers under the username valeriepieris. This circle is in much of Asia. I found it interesting as Sri Lanka is part of this circle. Sri Lanka is also part of the world’s most populated continent, Asia. I decided to write an article about Sri Lanka’s role in the circle which can also extend to Sri Lanka’s role in Asia. I’m presenting a positive fact about Sri Lanka with suggestions on how Sri Lanka can take advantage of this, especially during its current economic crisis.

Ken Myers’ Valeriepieris Circle from Reddit

Exports

This is a region that Sri Lanka can work on increasing its exports. Exporters of food should look for countries in this region who have a demand for agricultural items and packaged goods. Some packaged goods can be popular in regions nearby due to similarities in culture with Sri Lanka including neighbour India that is one of the world’s most populous countries. Items can be produced in Sri Lanka to support products manufactured in this region e.g. car parts. In the process of our export diversification, it’s important to look at how it can support this region.

FDI & Business Collaboration

Sri Lanka should try to seek foreign direct investment (FDI) from this region. We need to attract investment from successful industries in these countries to improve their counterparts in Sri Lanka. Companies from these countries can open offices in Sri Lanka to provide jobs with higher salaries than average. Sri Lankan businesses can seek business projects servicing clients in this region to cater to the majority of the world’s population.

Two years ago on this blog, I had mentioned an agreement signed between Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) and the European Association for Trade - Crafts - Industries (EIVHGI) in Vienna. Similar agreements can be signed with business organisations in this region.

Learn from Countries’ Successes

Countries in this circle have successes they are highly regarded for which Sri Lanka can learn from. I’ll give two countries’ successes. The South Korean economy went from an agricultural economy like Sri Lanka to one of the world’s leading economies. South Korea initiated policy reforms that led to significant growth in exports. Two important factors are the improvements they made in performing business and policies in support of innovation.

Singapore has taken strides in the fight against corruption. Their government agency responsible for investigating bribery and corruption is the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). When Singapore received self-governance in 1959, corruption was very prevalent in the government. Years later, following Singapore’s independence, laws were updated to strengthen the powers of CPIB officers and increase penalties for those guilty of corruption. It’s important to note that the CPIB’s powers to investigate corruption includes the private sector. These are a few positive changes initiated in these countries with many more successes to learn from. We can invite professionals from these countries to bring their expertise to help improve Sri Lanka.

Movement

This idea goes beyond Sri Lanka with the potential for a movement that can invite people from all these countries to have a voice on the world stage. This should be carried out by ordinary people and not involve politicians due to issues of bribery, corruption and bad character being unfortunately present among politicians in Asia. A focus on this movement should be on common improvements people in this circle wish to see.

This was a simple exercise I carried out. Sri Lanka being part of the world’s most populous region is a little-known positive fact for Sri Lankans to enjoy. I invite others to contribute on this topic. I’m keen to see what others can come up with using an in-depth analysis for Sri Lanka and other countries in the Valeriepieris circle. If you enjoyed reading this, you may be interested in my blog posts “Virtually Exploring Five Asian Cities” or “Sri Lankan Private Sector Development Proposal”.

Sad for Sri Lanka

 

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is in a dark place right now. Besides the COVID-19 pandemic that is ongoing in both Sri Lanka and throughout the world, there are power cuts, rising food prices, foreign reserves falling to low levels with the risk of it running out, exploding gas cylinders among other issues. The biggest problem facing Sri Lanka is a majoritarian, incompetent government causing damage to the country and concentrating power in one political family. I believe the bad governance is the root cause of much of the bad news coming out of Sri Lanka. The pandemic has exacerbated the bad governance problems facing Sri Lanka making the negative results come faster. 

It appears to me that there is a growing number of long-time supporters of the Rajapaksas who are dissatisfied with the current government’s performance. As Sri Lanka is disunited right now, we can use the common dissatisfaction as one reason to be united. A bad political tactic which is common in Sri Lanka is to divide the communities by rulers as a means to be in power. By uniting together for the country, we will be defying this strategy of the politicians. We will have our differences due to being from different communities or social groups, but we can focus on the type of society we want based on our common goals. 

We can look at the type of government we should be having. We need leaders who will give equal treatment to all communities, take a firm stand against bribery & corruption, have honesty & integrity, work to take Sri Lanka out of the economic mess it’s in into a strong stable economy among other needed changes. 

We Sri Lankans can work to reduce the indecent values and behaviour which stem from the top. Those of us who live in Sri Lanka can strive to take the country in the direction to where it should be. Civil society has an important role to play in this. Business leaders can work to strengthen the quality, ethics and services of their businesses. It’s important to give a good image of the country to the outside world, especially online. 

I’m conflicted as I don’t want to sound very bleak about Sri Lanka’s future, yet I see more bad things headed for Sri Lanka including the potential for ones that are catastrophic. We can do our part to try to prevent potential bad occurrences from happening. While the awful politics is wreaking havoc in our country, we are not defined by it. We are a beautiful island nation with diverse cultures and communities. We offer a lot of interesting different places in a small country. Sri Lanka is a special country and an important part of Asia. Let’s work to make the society we need a reality one day. 

Virtually Exploring Five Asian Cities

 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Ever since I began my blog in 2016, I’ve featured one blog post every year featuring embedded content from Google Street View. I decided to write a blog post featuring Google Street View views of five cities in Asia. There are two views of each city and it’s possible to explore these embedded views further. You can click the “View on Google Maps” button to view it in another window if the embed does not load. The order I’m using for this post is from left to right geographically.

Amman, Jordan 

We’re beginning in the Middle East which is on the left edge of Asia. Amman is a historical city in Jordan.

A look at the Abdoun Circle.

A roundabout with a hotel in the background. I find it interesting that the traffic island & roundabout are painted blue & purple instead of the black & white painting that are used in my country Sri Lanka. 

Colombo, Sri Lanka

We’re now moving into South Asia going to Sri Lanka which is a topic I write about on this blog. Colombo is my hometown which holds a special place in my heart. 

This is Union Place which features the Columbo style of having big trees on an urban road.

A view of Beira Lake.

Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Bangladesh is also in the South Asian region. Dhaka is its capital and most populous city.

This overpass reminds me of the overpass that used to exist in my Sri Lankan childhood.

A view of Hatirjheel Lake.

Singapore 

Singapore is a developed city-state in South East Asia. I notice that it is an advanced city with several buildings while also having a lot of trees and greenery.

This is from the road featuring the Marina Bay Sands. The Marina Bay Sands has a cool overpass. 

A Singaporean intersection.

Seoul, South Korea

The last city Seoul is in South Korea, another developed Asian nation. This is in East Asia and is located in the right edge of Asia being a fitting end as we began from the left edge of Asia.

Here’s a look into the city of Seoul with its big buildings. I find it interesting that while English isn’t spoken widely in South Korea, the road signs are bilingual and English is used in some shop signs.

Looking at skyscrapers over the Han River with the Wonhyo Bridge to the left.

So that was a selection I made of Asian cities. We have covered historical cities (Amman), South Asian cities of developing countries (Colombo & Dhaka) and leading global cities of developed Asia (Singapore & Seoul). Feel free to comment. I’m interested in hearing if you’re from any of the places on this list.