IT/BPO industry the fifth largest exporter

Poised to become No. 1:

The IT/BPO industry in Sri Lanka has escalated to become the fifth largest export earner according to the EDB 'Export Value Survey' which formulates the IT industry contribution to the national economy in the export earnings sector. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) summoned by the EDB and the industry ICT advisory committee executed the survey.

The first ever study about IT export earnings, goes on to analyze the total export revenue from Information Technology/ Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) in 2007 was 213 million US$, with an annual growth of 23 percent, compared to 173 million US$ in 2006.

The Chairman SLASSCOM Ranjith Fernando said, "The Industry achieved this feat within less than 10 years of exports.

With the war ending and the global economy about to pick up, IT/BPO industry is poised to be the number one export earner during the next five years."

The report carried out between April - October 2008 states IT/BPO has the highest revenue per employee, USD 11,000 and is rated as the number one for return on capital employed. It has forecast the potential of bringing in US$ 1 billion in exports within five - seven years and creating more 70,000 direct jobs.

The IT/BPO industry presents Sri Lanka with opportunity for sustainable economic growth in manner, which is unprecedented.

The value addition of service experts from the IT/BPO industry is near 100 percent. The industry is based on knowledge workers and creates high paying jobs for educated youth. Each job in IT/BPO industry creates 3-4 other indirect jobs in the economy.

This large employment multiplier effect creates significant economic impact by way of employment creation. IT/BPO industry is based on electronic exports and doesn't depend on physical logistics services such as shipping.

Therefore the IT/BPO industry has significant potential to drive regional development as the industry picks up and moves to regional centres. The industry is also has near zero negative impact on the environment.