IT vital for economic growth - Deputy Finance Minister

Sri Lanka is emerging towards rapid growth in all sectors and the role played by Information Technology (IT) will help stimulate the strategies adopted by the Government to achieve her targets, said Deputy Finance and Planning Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama.

Investors in the past were hesitant to invest here due to the 30-year conflict. They were concerned about the business profitability, but, today the situation has changed with the end of the war with Sri Lanka becoming a safe haven and ideal for investment, Minister Amunugama said.

“Colombo today is safer than at any other time in history, he said.

Minister Amunugama was speaking at the IBM Forum 2010 held under the theme “Smater Business for a smarter planet.”

He said it was very pleasing to see the large number of foreign stakeholders attending the forum.

“This augurs well for the tourism industry,” he said.

‘The old-fashioned or outdated mode of life in Sri Lanka is fading away with the end of the war and we are forging ahead towards a new era embracing new trends adopted by various other countries which are on speedy development tracks, using information technology. Today the information technology could be attributed as a necessity and not a luxury,” he said.

Dr. Amunugama also said that Sri Lanka is rich with human resources, potential and talents which were all hidden during the past and the modern information technology can give them a wake-up call to join the development exercise which is streamlined by the government.

This potential could be defined into three categories namely, co-operate personal and the national potential. All these potentials could be grasped into one clutch and could be conditioned with modern technology to chime with the other developing countries.

Sri Lanka is accelerating her growth rate from 6 percent to 8 percent in the medium term and we are heading towards a double digit growth rate in the near future. With all the potential and resources we possess no doubt we can increase the revenue. Increasing taxes does not mean that we increase revenue.

As an example we can reduce the tax rates without damaging the income flow. We have brought down the tax levies for vehicle imports but that did no affect the Government revenue.

We all know that the main revenue-spinners in Sri Lanka are namely Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise Department. It is unfortunate to see that there are loopholes in these departments which hamper the flow of revenue to the government offers.

We are taking every step to plug the loopholes bringing legitimate revenue to the Government which could be utilised for the development projects in the country enabling the community to lead good lives, he said.

Dr. Amunugama said that the IBM has a longstanding link with Sri Lanka and this institute which is fast emerging with modern information technology could join hands to take this country towards development.