Sri Lanka’s Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) set up to carry of public enterprise reforms in 2004 is to be closed down on a directive issued by President Maithripala Sirisena.
This agency was almost defunct and it was not in the public domain during the past few years, official sources revealed adding that it had been operating under the Presidential secretariat to formulate strategic plans for the strategic sectors of the government.
Ina letter sent to the Chairman of SEMA under the signature of the Additional Secretary to the President A.Muthumala Last Friday 14, he requested him to close down all operations of the Agency with immediate effect. Mr Muthumala has also brought to the notice of SEMA Chairman / CEO Asoka Abeygunawardana that the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to close down the agency at their meeting held on 03-07-2018 and all financial transactions of the institution should be concluded forthwith.
SEMA has been mandated to assist the state owned strategic enterprises to devise policy frame works for the long term sustainability of those state enterprises. The aim was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the economy by upgrading these enterprises on par with their private sector counterparts while retaining state ownership. SEMA has been entrusted with the task of improving thirteen key state enterprises under its purview to drill in reform and turn them into commercially viable entities.
The State owned enterprises under SEMA supervision include State Banks, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Central Transport Board (CTB,) Ports Authority, Railways and plantation companies.
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