Economic Summit to examine skills to compete in the global market

The Sri Lanka Economic Summit scheduled to take place from July 10 to12 in Colombo will have a dedicated session on “Skills & Productivity to compete in the Global Market”.

Scientific Affairs Senior Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana and Dr. Nisha Arunatilake, Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies will deliver the keynote addresses at the session scheduled to be held on the third and final day of the event. Regaining peace after three decades of war has opened an array of opportunities to invest in all three key segments of the economy. All investments require human capital in various forms ranging from managerial, technical to operational levels.

The moderate pace of growth experienced in the past and slow progress in education and labour reforms have not provided the country with a human resource base that is capable of meeting the skills requirements of varied investors. Moreover, the high proportion of workforce that has migrated for employment and permanent residency and the ageing population, have further contracted the availability of skilled and productive human capital. Whilst the country needs to urgently implement reforms on education and labour if the fruits of peace are to be derived optimally, many initiatives have already been initiated to develop skills at sectoral levels.

The session will discuss the initiatives that are underway and identify additional steps required to improve the quality of human capital available in the country for Sri Lanka to accelerate economic development.

The keynote addresses will be followed by a panel discussion with the panelists Ravi Peiris, Director General, The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Prof. Lalith Gamage, President/CEO, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Vish Govindasamy, CEO, Watawala Plantations PLC & Group MD, Sunshine Holdings, Amal Nanayakkara, General Manager (Training), Aitken Spence Hotel Managements, Mano Sekaram, CEO, 99X Technology and Sumal Perera, Chairman, Access International.

The session will be moderated by Sunil Wijesinha, former Chairman/Managing Director, Dankotuwa Porcelain.