Minister Samarasinghe also paid a glowing tribute to US Ambassador Ashley Wills and USAID Mission Director Ms. Vicki Moore for their painstaking effort focussed towards the establishment of a website which the public can send in their suggestions and comments on a range of topics pertaining to the future development activities in the country.

"The newly launched website is a major initiative in terms of transparency and people participation in the preparation of a national policy and is a clear indication of democracy in practice", Minister Samarasinghe said.

"The site is in all three languages, therefore people from all communities at all levels living here or abroad can access to the website and share their opinions".

"At present our productivity levels are considered to be lower than those of other Asian nations such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and many East Asian national attained their high productivity levels through systematic planning at a micro level, therefore we also have identified the need for a new productivity policy", Minister Samarasinghe added.

US Ambassador Ashley Wills said that he was impressed by the effort that has gone into developing the website and also reiterated that the portal would not only encourage people to participate with their ideas but also keep people informed throughout the policy formation process enabling people's participation at even this stage.