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Conference on Regulatory Impact
Assessment (RIA), Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo,
22-23 June, 2004
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The Institute of Policy
Studies (IPS) in collaboration with the Centre on Regulation
and Competition (CRC), Institute for Development Policy and
Management (IDPM), University of Manchester organized a conference
on the implementation of Regulatory Impact Assessment
(RIA) in Sri Lanka at the Ceylon Continental Hotel,
Colombo on 22 and 23 June, 2004.
Hon. Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister
of Finance inaugurated the session, and delivered the keynote
address on “Importance of Regulatory Measures for the
Sri Lankan Economy”.
The objective of the conference
was to create greater awareness of RIA among people who are
involved in the regulatory activities in Sri Lanka. Officers
from government regulatory institutions, as well as the enterprises
that are affected by regulatory measures participated.
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The first day of the conference aimed to highlight
matters relating to utility regulation, financial and capital
marketregulation in Sri Lanka, while the sessions on the second
day consisted of a workshop on the implementation of RIA conducted
by CRC and IPS resource persons
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Prof. David Parker, Prof.
Colin Kirkpatrick, Co-directors of the Regulation Research Programme,
CRC, University of Manchester, Hon. Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister
of Finance, Dr. Shelton Wanasinghe, Senior Visiting Fellow,
IPS and Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, IPS during the
Inaugural Session of the conference.
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Seminar on the Follow-up of SAARC Summit Decisions
concerning SAFTA, ISACPA and the Social Charter, Ceylon
Continental Hotel, Colombo, 21 June, 2004
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The latest issue of the South Asia Economic
Journal was launched during the seminar and the first copy of
the journal was officially presented to Prof. Rehman Sobhan,
Executive Director, SACEPS by Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive
Director, IPS.
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Dr. Dushni Weerakoon, Research Fellow,
IPS made a presentation during the 1st session on “Implications
of Building a South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA)”.
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The Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka in collaboration
with the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), Bangladesh,
organized a day-long seminar on the Follow-up of
SAARC Summit Decisions concerning SAFTA, ISACPA and the Social
Charter at the Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo
on 21 June, 2004. The seminar was inaugurated by Hon. Prof.
Tissa Vitarana, Minister of Science and Technology.
The objective of the seminar was
to discuss the decisions taken at the 12th SAARC Summit meeting
which was held in Islamabad during 2-4 January 2004, and their
implications and challenges.
The latest issue of the South
Asia Economic Journal was also launched during the seminar and
the first copy of the journal was officially presented to Prof.
Rehman Sobhan, Executive Director, SACEPS by Dr. Saman Kelegama,
Executive Director, IPS.
The seminar was attended by policy
makers, academics and others who are actively working on issues
related to SAARC.
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Workshop on Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health
in Sri Lanka,
Galadari Hotel, Colombo, 11 June, 2004
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IPS-Health Policy Programme organized a
workshop on “Adolescent and Youth Reproductive
Health in Sri Lanka – Status, Issues, Policies and Programmes”
in Colombo on 11 June, 2004. The report of a Health
Policy Programme study assessing the status of Adolescent Reproductive
Health (ARH) in Sri Lanka was released at the workshop and its
key findings presented by Prof. Indralal de Silva (University
of Colombo) and Ms. Aparnaa Somanathan. Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne, Public Health Specialistand Consultant chaired the meeting .
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The audience ranged
from representatives of the relevant government, non-governmental
and international agencies to physicians and teachers who have
taken an active role in promoting ARH services in the country
and university and high school students. The second half of
the workshop was devoted to developing policy recommendations
on providing youth friendly services, improving communication,
education and advocacy, targeting special risk groups and enhancing
research on ARH issues. Workshop attendees divided into four
working groups to produce these recommendations, which will
be submitted to the Ministry of Health for use in the development
of an ARH policy for Sri Lanka.
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The report released at the workshop was prepared
by the Institute of Policy Studies as part of a 13-country study
of adolescent reproductive health issues, policies, and programmes
carried out by the Policy
Project on behalf of the Asia/Near East Bureau of USAID.
The study was conducted by a team consisting of Prof.Indralal
de Silva, Ms. Aparnaa Somanathan and Ms.Vindya Eriyagama. |
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May
2004 |
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Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the
IPS was a guest speaker at the launch of the South
Asia Journal, April-June 2004 issue (No. 4) at
the Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo on 21 May. The journal is published by the South Asia
Free Media Association (SAFMA) based in Lahore, Pakistan.The
Secretary-General of the SAFMA, Imtiaz Alam
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The No. 4 issue of the South Asia Journal include articles by
the Executive Director on “SAFTA: A Critique”
and by Dr. Dushni Weerakoon, Research Fellow, IPS on
“Sri Lanka: Peace and Economic Reform.”
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Competition
Policy, Competitiveness
&
Investment in a Global Economy:
The Asian Experience |
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Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive
Director of the IPS delivered the key note address on the first
day of a seminar on “Competition Policy, Competitiveness
& Investment in a Global Economy: The Asian Experience”
at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo on 19 May, 2004.
Mr. Andrew Perumal, Research Assistant,
IPS made a presentation on ‘Anti-Competitive Practices
in the Telecommunication Sector: The Sri Lankan Experience’
during a session on ‘Case and Country Experience’.
The seminar was organized by the
World Bank Group with the cooperation of the European Commission.
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The ESCAP Economic and Social Survey
of Asia and the Pacific 2004 was launched by
Dr. Dushni Weerakoon , 21 April 2004
The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and
the Pacific 2004 of the United Nations Economic Commission for
South Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was launched by Dr. Dushni
Weerakoon, Research Fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies
on 21 April at the UNDP office in Colombo.
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Dr. Weerakoon also participated at a media briefing on the launch
of the survey along with Ms. Louise Chamberlain, Assistant Resident
Representative-UNDP.
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Dr. Dushni Weerakoon and Ms. Louise Chamberlain, Assistant
Resident Representative-UNDP at the media briefing held in Colombo.
Click below to download summary of the media
brief.
Word format ( 34 KB )
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March
2004 |
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The Executive Director of the IPS, Dr. Saman
Kelegama made a presentation on "US-South Asia Relations:
Economic Dimensions" at a seminar organized by the
Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) and the
US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission at the BMICH during 19-20
March. Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister and Chairman of the
BCIS, Deshamanya Ken Balendra, former Chairman of the Ceylon
Chamber of Commerce, and Ms. Teresa L. Manlowe, Second Secretary
and Consul, Embassy of the USA in Sri Lanka participated in
the Session. The paper presented by Dr. Kelegama could be obtained
from the BCIS.
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The Executive Director of the IPS, Dr. Saman Kelegama
presented a paper on the SAFTA-Poverty Nexus in South
Asia at the SAARC-UNDP High Level Forum on Poverty Reduction
Strategies in South Asia held at the SAARC Secretariat,
Kathmandu, Nepal, 01-02 March, 2004. Among others, Hafiz Pasha,
Assistant Secretary-General, UN; Q.A.M.A. Rahim, Secretary General,
SAARC; and Dr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Principal Secretary to
the Hon. Prime Minister of Bangladesh participated in the session.
Dr. Bishwambher Pyakuryal, Professor of Economics, Tribhuvan
University, Nepal, chaired the Session.
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Dr Ravi P. Rannan-Eliya, Head of the
IPS Health Policy Programme (IPS-HPP), features
as the author of
February's HPN Viewpoint on the World Bank website. The
monthly HPN Viewpoint showcases personal perspectives on critical
areas of global health policy, and Dr Rannan-Eliya joins
a list of distinguished experts who share their perspectives
in the series, including Joseph Stiglitz, Shanta Devarajan,
Jeff Sachs, and Julian Le Grand. |
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Drawing on past and current
research of the Health Policy Programme and from the experience
of Sri Lanka's health sector, Dr Rannan-Eliya argues
for the need to take a systems approach to thinking about equity
in health care delivery. IPS-HPP research in recent years has
helped develop better global understanding of how health systems
of some countries’ do effectively reach the poor, as does
Sri Lanka's, and how Sri
Lanka's government health services were decades ahead of international
thinking in their focus on risk protection from the 1930s.
Sri Lanka's successes in this area, which IPS-HPP has played
a major role in reminding the international community about,
have increasingly attracted international attention, as it has
become clear that conventional approaches to reaching the poor
are failing. Currently, IPS-HPP is coordinating a major regional
study of health systems equity in 15 Asia-Pacific territories
(EQUITAP),
which is expected to provide the first definitive comparative
assessment of national performance in the region when results
are published in late 2004. IPS-HPP has also conducted work
examining health systems equity in Bangladesh,
Nepal and Kyrgyz Republic.
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January 2004 |
The Executive Director participated in
the launch of the 'South Asia Development Cooperation Report
- 2004' in New Delhi, India on 27 January.
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The 'South Asia Development Cooperation Report
- 2004' published by the RIS (based in New Delhi) was released
on 27 January 2004 at the Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre,
New Delhi, India. The Report was launched by Hon. K.C. Pant,
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India in the presence
of Mr. Shashank, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs,
India.The launch was followed by a panel discussion in which
Prof. Rehman Sobhan (Executive Director, South Asia Centre for
Policy Studies, Dhaka, Bangladesh), |
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Dr. A.R. Kemal (Director, Pakistan,
Institute of Development Economics), Prof. Muchkund Dubey (former
Foreign Secretary of India) and Dr. Saman Kelegama (Executive
Director, IPS) participated. The panel critically examined the
contents of the Report, which is the third one of its kind published
by the RIS.
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S eminar on “Contemporary Economic Issues in India
and Indo-Sri Lanka Economic Relations”
BMICH, Colombo 22, January
The Executive Director of the IPS, Dr. Saman Kelegama Co-Chaired
a Seminar with Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, M.P. and Chairman of
the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) on
Contemporary Economic Issues in India and Indo-Sri
Lanka Economic Relations organized by the BCIS
at the BMICH on 22 January.
Prof. S.K. Goyal, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Studies
in Industrial Development, New Delhi, India, spoke on Contemporary
Economic Issues in India while Mr. Liaquath Ali, former
Economist GATT Secretariat and UNCTAD, spoke on Indo-Sri
Lanka Economic Relations. The two lectures were followed
by a lively question and answer session.
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The Executive Director of the IPS, Dr. Saman
Kelegama who was one of the Sri Lankan commissioners of the
Independent South Asian Commission for
Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) was part of the Sri Lankan
official delegation for the SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan
during 01-05 January 2004. The Executive Director was
invited by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry to make
a critical evaluation of the new SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade
Area) Treaty at a symposium on "Regional Cooperation in
SAARC" organized by the Chamber on 02 January
at the Serena Hotel, Islamabad.
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The
Executive Director at the seminar |
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