IT service centre in Colombo

Indunil HEWAGE

Sri Lanka is planning on establishing an IT industry related service centre in Old Tripoli Market, Colombo. The project is funded by the Urban Development Authority and the construction of the project is expected to begin shortly. The Sri Lanka Navy has undertaken the construction of proposed centre.

Sujiva Dewaraja, Chairman, SLASS COM presenting the SLASS COM Salary and Benefits Survey’ to Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Picture by Nissanka Wijeratne

“The whole idea is to establish a common place where IT and Knowledge industry related organizations could be accommodated. This would help to get to know the different ideas of industry professionals to take the IT and BPO industry to the next level. Sri Lanka Navy’s involvement for the construction of the centre would reduce the project cost by two third,”a senior official said. The construction of a Knowledge Park in Hambantota is also in progress under the Hambantota Development Project.

Speaking at the event Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said, “It is very important that Sri Lankan companies in various sectors too, commit themselves to this development drive by promoting new ventures and also further creating growth opportunities throughout the country. There are many sectors where Sri Lanka has tremendous potential. IT and BPO sectors are two of such examples.

There are already a number of local companies that have made a mark internationally, by developing high standard software products. Most of the software engineers and other professionals who had developed these products had been educated and trained here, as were the entrepreneurs who created opportunities for them to build strong careers in this field. As the country moves forward, more and more such opportunities need to be exploited. Sri Lanka has extraordinarily talented professionals in many fields, including accountancy, engineering and medicine.

They require more avenues where they could make use of their talents. As leading professionals in the IT and BPO sectors, I am sure that many of you could play an important part in creating such opportunities.

For its part, the government has been engaged in a large-scale development drive to create a positive environment for businesses. Urban development is one such critical area in this regard.”