Sri Lanka, Aug. 25 -- Sri Lanka's ambition to earn US$36 billion from exports by 2030 risks becoming "a glossy brochure resting on a 1940s labour engine" unless the Government urgently introduces a modern Employment Act, Vice President (International Affairs) Democratic Peoples Front - Tamil Progressive Alliance Barath Arullsamy said.

"The Government wants factories to compete in the economy of 2030 while employers and workers remain governed by laws written in 1941, 1942, 1950 and 1954. A national export strategy without a national employment strategy is merely a press release," he said.

Nearly two years after assuming office, the Government has still not published a consolidated labour reform draft or fixed legislative timetable. Alt...