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| Friday, 3 December 2004 |
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PM pledges to work closely with Asain Oceanic govts to develop ICT sector By Sudarshana Perera Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday pledged to work closely with Asian Oceanic governments to develop Sri Lanka's ICT sector and become a strategic player in the regional trade. Premier Rajapakse addressing the ASOCIO Regional ICT Ministers summit at the BMICH said that ICT Industry has topped the agenda of the government and they were committed to provide infrastructure and other concessions to bring in investments to the country. "We have embarked on e-Sri Lanka initiative to re-engineer government and take the dividends of ICT to grass root level and we welcome the support and technological transfers from our neighboring ICT giants and your assistance is this regard is vital for the growth of Sri Lanka's economy.", he said. "We are also most concerned about reducing poverty in our society and to place great importance on harnessing ICT and its capabilities to reduce poverty among our people. ICT in my opinion must be used at village level to improve agricultural practices, fisheries, self-employment initiatives and marketing of rural produce. Already a pilot project launched by the ICT Agency is becoming very popular among farmers as the project provides the farmers with current prices for agricultural produce. Similar projects need to be in place for our population to benefit from ICT for development initiatives", he said. "Globalisation is an inevitable process in the natural advancement of human civilization. The best strategy to make the optimum use from the regional, national and business organisational perspectives is to join together and make use of the strengths of each participating entity. Self evaluating the strength and weakness of oneself and sourcing the right partners for the right purpose successfully, is the challenge globalisation poses. Over the years business organisations within each participating nation, have performed well in this process of forming alliances. It is now time to focus sharply on this process within the region. This synergy identification within the region will pave the way for regional ICT leadership in the global context", the Prime Minister said. Private Sector ICT companies said that the ongoing ASOCIO 2004 summit and exhibition in Colombo will open many business vistas for the local industry as the event will pave the way to build business rapport with other countries particularly in the Asian Oceanic region. |
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