India to expedite digital ID, UPI and knowledge-sharing with Sri Lanka
The Morning: The Government of India has once again reassured its commitment to expediting the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SLUDI) project, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and exchanging of knowledge on India’s digital platforms such as the Aadhaar platform, a press release from the President’s office on Monday (16) said.
“Acknowledging the successful experience of India in people-centric digitization, which has helped in improving governance, transforming service delivery, ushering transparency, and contributing to social welfare, President Dissanayake conveyed his government’s interest in exploring the establishment of similar systems in Sri Lanka with Indian assistance,” the official statement said.
“Prime Minister Modi conveyed India’s readiness in fully supporting Sri Lanka’s efforts in this regard.”
The statement said that the centre has expressed the willingness to work with Sri Lanka to “expedite the implementation of the SLUDI, to aid the country in its efforts to improve delivery of government services, collaborate on avenues to fully roll out the DPI in Sri Lanka, and promote financial transaction by extending the use of the UPI digital payments.”
The statement also mentioned the establishment of a joint working group to explore the implementation of a DPI stack in Sri Lanka based on experience and systems already established in India, including advancing ongoing technical discussions on the implementation of DigiLocker in Sri Lanka.
Further, it stated that bilateral exchanges on learnings from India’s Aadhaar platform, GeM portal, PM Gati Shakti digital platform, digitised customs and other taxation procedures, are also to be commenced.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s development programme that is in-line with the country’s path to becoming a regional hub has opened up a host of new business/investment opportunities covering all key economic sectors. The ongoing discussion with India on projects like the digital ID and the UPI is indicative of the increasing business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s economic expansion programme. While there are many similar programmes open for foreign businesses/investors, Indian businesses/investors could pay special attention to the emerging opportunities in Sri Lanka given the strong ties between the two countries. The profits recorded by Indian businesses already operating in Sri Lanka gives further confidence for other Indian businesses/investors to explore opportunities in the country while also looking at expanding operations through local collaborations. Other foreign businesses/investors could therefore confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka and look at engaging with India using thr preferential treatment enjoyed by Sri Lanka with other countries.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/20241218/Z_8 |