SLASSCOM hails Sri Lankan government’s focus on developing knowledge economy
Sri Lanka Association for Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) Chairman Ranil Rajapakse in a letter addressed to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has reportedly stated that the association was happy to see the importance of developing the knowledge economy feature prominently in the priorities published as part of the President’s mandate.
“We are heartened to see your commitment to grow our economy through a strong technology and innovation-based approach to make Sri Lanka a global innovation hub. We appreciate your interest in fostering development in the areas of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Robotics, Nanotechnology, and Cloud Computing, and look forward to your support to grow the industry on emerging technologies,” the letter has noted.
“Your vision to make Sri Lanka a digitally inclusive country, to create 300,000 job opportunities in the areas of IT/Software Engineering, Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing, and to develop these sectors as a USD 3 billion industry by 2025 aligns well with the SLASSCOM 2022 Vision. We are committed to work alongside the government to serve for the betterment of the country. Along with the SLASSCOM Board, we will extend our support to make your vision a reality.”
Responding to the tax concessions and reforms last week, Rajapakse has further noted, “As the industry chamber, we are delighted to see the decision to remove all taxes from IT and Enabling Services.
We are confident this will propel the Knowledge Solutions sector to be the most significant contributor in the national economy in the years ahead, in addition to being the sector with the highest value-addition”.
According to reports, SLASSCOM is the national chamber for the knowledge and innovation industry in Sri Lanka and acts as the catalyst of growth for the industry by facilitating trade and business, propagation of education and employment, encouraging research and innovation, and by supporting the creation of a progressive national policy.
OSL take:
The decision by the government of Sri Lanka to give priority to the country’s ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors have resulted in the expansion of business/investment opportunities in the two sectors. The Sri Lankan government has also pledged to give prominence to the country’s ICT and digital infrastructure sectors with the aim of making Sri Lanka a knowledge hub in the Indian Ocean region. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/05122019/Z_3 |