Performance Report – 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Sigiriya is a major attraction for bothdomestic and foreign tourists, welcomingapproximately 600,000 visitors per year,including 70% of all foreigners that visitSri Lanka. The new museum at Sigiriyahas been constructed to establish a deeperunderstanding of the cultural and historicalvalue of Sigiriya for both domestic andinternational visitors. Modern equipmentthat was installed in the museum hasimproved the display and presentation toworld standards.20 major cultural and natural heritage siteswithin the triangular area of Bentota,Matara and Kataragama which wereestablished in Dutch period are preservedat a cost of Rs 702 mn.Conservation and preservation of theancient fort of Jaffna is now in progress ata cost of Rs 104 mn.The Tsunami commemorative museum isbeing built as a monument of the Tsunamicatastrophe and is now in progress at acost of Rs 210 mn.Conservation of the Ranchamadama prehistoric cemetery and construction of theMuseum are now in progress.As decided at the 10th SAARC Summitheld in Colombo, construction of a SouthAsia Cultural Centre at Matara, Sri Lankais on-going. The Centre is intended tofunction as a major meeting point for theartistic communities of the member states.It will provide the necessary facilities andconditions for individuals and groups indiverse fields of culture to meet andinteract in a conducive environment.Activities at the center are expected toencompass all forms of Art, Dance, Music,Vocal Drama, Puppetry, Painting,Sculpture, Cinemas, Photography,Literature and Archaeology.Kala Nikathanaya at Kundasale-Thisacademy will be established as a fullfledgedacademy to instill knowledge and187know-how in all fields of Drama, MusicLiterature, Arts and Dance activities.Preservation of the culture and lifestyle ofthe indigenous people- Indigenous people,who have a long history and they areconfined to some pockets to Badulla,Ampara, Batticaloa districts in Sri Lanka.They have their own set of customs,values, medicine, food system etc. whichare basically related to the naturalenvironment and today they face theproblem of this traditional culturevanishing from the present society. Thegovernment is conserving their valuableculture and improving their livingstandards.Industry and TradeThe recovery of the global economycoupled with the conducive investmentclimate prevailing in the country hashelped the industry sector to grow at ahealthy 8.4 percent from Rs. 701.1 Bn toRs. 760.2 Bn in 2010. Industrial exportsaccounted for nearly three fourths (74.3percent) of total exports in 2010. Thehighest contribution to industrial exportswas from textile and garments at 42.2percent of total exports. Earnings fromindustrial exports increased by 16.3percent from US $ 5305.4 million in 2009to US$ 6172.8 million in 2010.Government investments in large-scaleinfrastructure development projects suchas power generation, port services, roadsand transport development etc, also hascontributed significantly to the growth ofthe industry sector. In respect of differentsectors mining and quarrying showed agrowth of 15.4 percent which hassignificantly contributed to the growth ofthe industry sector. The processingindustry which grew at 0.66 percent in2009 witnessed a tremendous growth of5.82 percent in 2010. In addition, factoryindustry, electricity and construction alsohave contributed to the growth of theindustry sector.