Immigration key catalyst for development
By Uditha Jayasinghe
Reforming immigration law to allow free movement of people through progressive laws could tackle Sri Lanka’s chronic economic challenges of narrow exports, low Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and limited innovation, a top expert said yesterday, outlining many examples of countries that have experienced growth spurts by opening up their labour markets.
Prof. Ricardo Hausmann is Director of Harvard’s Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School of Government. Delivering a lecture titled “Accessing knowhow for development” organised by think tank Advocata in Colombo, Prof. Hausmann, himself a Venezuelan migrant to the US, laid out a compelling case on how well-managed immigration and emigration coul...