Lanka can be Asia’s knowledge hub - IT Expert

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Sri Lanka is well positioned to be the knowledge hub in Asia, Metanoia Partners (Pvt) Ltd Managing Partner/ CEO Nigel K.J. Dye told Daily News Business.

The country is positioned to attract smart people as its environment, intelligent workforce and level of English education have positive impact in this regard. However, the momentum needs to continue forward, he said.

Sri Lanka has the foundation and needs to build on this platform. Now it is time as there is political stability in the country. It needs to position now where intense competition could emerge from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and India in future.

The country’s technically skilled workforce is an asset and it could capitalize from this to enter the global economy with information technology. Not only IT, Sri Lanka could focus on medicine for knowledge hub which is growing at a fantastic rate, he said.

People are health conscious and there is specialized knowledge in Sri Lanka. It could look at medical tourism which is strong in Asia and is expected to grow. Logistics is another element of knowledge economy.

For all these the country should maintain high level of quality. It cannot position itself in price and needs to differentiate in quality and meeting deadlines.

The set up of Knowledge Transfer Academy to provide business training for executives and managers to understand the principles of knowledge economy by Metanoia Partners is to create a win-win situation.

The Government is supportive of Western companies and this is a plus point.

The marketing mechanism at BOI is encouraging, Dye said.

The internet has made the world flat. It is an important component of knowledge economy. There are two sides of business models. We take knowledge exported from Europe and bring them to Asia and take the services and export back to Europe. Now we export and import knowledge with new opportunities that internet brings together, he said.

Sri Lanka has great potential to market its knowledge in Europe. Its geographical location is ideal to exploit knowledge and intelligence in South Asian region. The country has reasonable telecommunication infrastructure. The Government’s willingness to support and sponsor IT projects is beneficial.

The country is an ideal place to check business models and technology. The FTAs with Indian and Pakistan help in this regard by making great deal of business sense to work in contained and control environment.

However, Sri Lanka needs to have more project management as the country has not been exposed to major global projects, he said.