After listening to a talk by a Japanese academic at a recent forum in Colombo on East Asian and Malaysian development models and their applicability to Sri Lanka, Project Intern Kaushalya Attygalle writes that while these experiences hold many valuable lessons for our economic development, we must be cautious of drawing too close a parallel and in subscribing to particular models or processes. Yet, she stresses that some of the most valuable lessons we must take note of are consistency in economic policies and political commitment to reform and economic leadership, that countries like Malaysia displayed.

In the second post in our new section ‘The Note Pad’, Kaushalya Atygalle, a Project Intern at IPS, writes: “if Sri Lanka is to overcome this challenge of finding a point where the aspirations of youth match up to the opportunities available to them, where youth are less averse to private sector jobs, where certain ‘types’ of jobs are not stigmatized by society, and where proper structural reforms to address these problems are introduced and function effectively, it is crucial that there is a shift in perceptions – a shift that takes place in all aspects of Sri Lankan society, and at all levels – from families right up to national decision makers.”