SL among top 25 outsourcing destinations

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Sri Lanka is among the top 25 in the Global Services Location Index as the best destinations for providing outsourcing activities in 2011, according to a report released by A.T. Kearney Global Management Consultants.

The country has identified Information Technology (IT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and related knowledge offshore services as a critical driver of future economic growth.

The government has set a revenue target of US $ 1 billion by the year 2016 for the IT industry and taken numerous initiatives to make it one of the key sectors of the economy.

The main focus is capacity building where the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has implemented programs to meet the industry demand, ICTA Chief Executive Officer Reshan Dewapura told Daily News Business.

In supplementing the sectorial development efforts ICTA has commissioned A.T. Kearney Global Management Consultants to conduct a country competitiveness study for IT/BPO and knowledge services industry in the country, he said.

The study benchmarks the key areas of focus in Sri Lanka with competing global players in the outsourcing market. The finding of this study will be useful for all stakeholders and key policy makers of the industry in identifying the strengths and addressing the weaknesses to move forward.

The study will be a platform for policy intervention and growth assessment, Dewapura said.