The National Export Strategy of Sri Lanka, a document produced as a result of five years of consultation with industry professionals, identifies information technology and IT-enabled services among the six priority areas in Sri Lankan exports. The document, owned by Export Development Board and with an introduction signed by two presidents of private sector chambers (SLASSCOM and FITIS), includes three targets for the IT and IT-enabled sector by 2022: 5 billion IT and IT-enabled exports; the creation of 1,000 start-ups; and 200,000 jobs.
Samarajiva appreciates that the National Export Strategy is the work...

Established in 1999, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), is a leading non-state degree-awarding institute approved by the University Grants Commission. Initially limited to information technology and computing, its curricula expanded to include electronic engineering and business management.
OSL-THE Investment Magazine spoke to SLIIT Managing Director/CEO Prof. Lalith Gamage about the prospects for information technology (IT) in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has seen better days. Having exhausted nearly every possible alternative, it is now turning to big players in the region to help meet its debt obligations and resolve a severe balance of payments crisis. The Reserve Bank of India has offered a USD 400 currency swap to the Central Bank, while the Bank of China, it is reported, has offered a USD 300 m loan. Both institutions, according to the Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, were considering scaling up their offers to USD 1 bn each. Whatever the amount is that will be doled...

The battle for career advancement begins at home. The schoolchild has to face several hurdles starting with the Grade V Scholarship examination, through the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations. The biggest slots in their ambitions are allocated for medicine and engineering. Failing which, their career seems bleak.
Such was the destiny of education a few years ago. With the National Apprentice Board (NAB) established to co-ordinate and regulate enterprise-based apprenticeships in 1971, that destiny took a different shape. With the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour...

On 28 January 2019, the Ministry of Tele- -communication, Foreign Employment and Sports launched the National Media Campaign on Safe Labour Migration at the Duncan White Auditorium of the Ministry. Implemented in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Sri Lanka, the campaign aims to encourage all citizens to make informed decisions and follow correct procedures for foreign employment, by seeking proper guidance through reliable sources: the 1989 hotline, SLBFE offices, and Development Officers of Foreign Employment based at every Divisional Secretariat and District Secretariat office.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who came to power with great fanfare in May 2014, appears to have little to trumpet now, three months to the next parliamentary elections. With his achievements falling woefully short of the grandiose promises he made, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing the prospect of a hung parliament or even a defeat in the May 2019 elections – a far cry from the steam roller majority it got, a little less than five years ago.

At a presentation ceremony held on 24 January, Shani Calyanaratne Karunaratne, Deputy Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Beijing, received the prestigious title of “Silk Road Super Ambassador” in honour of her outstanding contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The envoys of four other countries also received this honour.

Karunaratne pointed out that the award not merely honoured herself, but also emphasised the special relationship that exists between China and Sri Lanka. Although they only established official diplomatic relations 62 years ago, friendly ties between New China and Ceylon (as it then was) began with...

Sri Lanka is facing a peculiar challenge. While educational and legal frameworks, on the one hand, and social, cultural, and political factors accompanying the rise of Generation Z (those born after 1996) have facilitated the growth of a viable IT sector in the country, even to the extent of being congratulated and acclaimed as one of the top tech destinations in the world – as the Daily FT reported last June 2018 – a gap remains between the skills of students and IT professionals, and the level of applicability of those skills. In a context where there...

When the Ceylon Steel Corporation steel rolling mill went into production in 1967- the first modern steel factory in the country- it revived a tradition of high-technology steel metallurgy which had died out a thousand years before.
It also began a process of innovation. At a time when plain steel reinforcing bars (re-bars) dominated the construction industry, the Soviet-built mill eventually produced twisted ribbed steel rods, which eventually took over the market.

Primary Industries and Social Empowerment Minister Daya Gamage formally launched the GSRS website at the Hotel Marino Beach on 1 February. At a media briefing following the launch, the minister stressed the significance of the event to the stakeholders and its timeliness and importance to the country. He re-iterated his fullest support and offered his blessings to the GSRS Secretariat to manage the event and conduct it to global victory.
Deshabandu Dr. Publis Silva, the renowned chef of more than 60 years’ experience, and expert in traditional Sri Lankan cuisine, underscored the importance of spices in maintaining the health...