The Value of Tech Investments in Sri Lanka

"Stunning Night View of Colombo City Skyline" by Thilina Alagiyawanna is marked with CC0 1.0. 

I decided to write an article giving my vision of technology investments in Sri Lanka. I think technology multinationals are companies Sri Lanka should try to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) from. Sri Lanka can focus on getting these companies to set-up their Sri Lankan operations with modern buildings being constructed. One area getting these companies to focus on is the South Asian region with South Asian headquarters being a possibility. If that’s too difficult an investment to obtain, another option is having a software development centre for South Asia. This includes India which is one of the most populated countries in the world. This would bring a massive number of Sri Lankan jobs.

In my previous article “Five Export Diversification Options for Sri Lanka”, two of the options I mentioned are computers & electronics and visual effects for Hollywood. As part of this, we can get technology companies to set-up manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka and attract global visual effects companies to have Sri Lankan offices.

Technology multinationals can bring advanced technology to Sri Lanka. These companies could offer modern services using this technology to the Sri Lankan market directly and also collaborate with others in Sri Lanka. I envision collaborations using this technology being agreements with Sri Lankan companies in the private sector to sell services through it and secure Sri Lankan government contracts with it. Tech companies could also do work for the Sri Lankan government on digitisation. I see their charitable activities as using their technology and expertise to benefit the poor and rural Sri Lanka.

This is a small selection I gave of the value of tech investments into Sri Lanka. There are many more possibilities I didn’t mention. Professionals involved in Sri Lanka’s technology sector and in obtaining FDI could expand on this with more detailed proposals. I’d be interested to hear if you have any ideas on tech investments in Sri Lanka. As Colombo has new buildings constructed, I am of the view that technology companies are a good sector for us to attract to enhance this contemporary trend.

Suggestions for Sri Lanka's Cyclone Ditwah Recovery

"Sri Lanka relief location map" by Uwe Dedering is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sri Lanka suffered one of its worst natural disasters with Cyclone Ditwah which brought severe floods. Numerous lives have been lost, people are missing, houses are damaged or destroyed, some roads & railway tracks can no longer be travelled on among other problems. This is troubling as Sri Lanka is still recovering from its recent economic collapse. Relating to Sri Lanka’s economy, the IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Evan Papageorgiou revealed that Sri Lanka has requested approximately 200 million USD of assistance due to Cyclone Ditwah. The IMF Executive Board is considering this request and will decide whether to approve it. In this article, I am writing suggestions for Sri Lanka’s Cyclone Ditwah recovery.

FDI

It would be very beneficial for Sri Lanka to seek foreign direct investments (FDIs) in sectors most affected by this crisis. Railways is a sector that has been seriously damaged. It has been reported that only 30% of Sri Lanka’s railways can be used following the cyclone damage. This comprises 478 km out of a 1,593 km total. It’s important to seek FDI on railways which includes improving the railway network to what it previously was. This could focus on upgrading railways including issues like electrification.

Agriculture has been seriously affected with floods overwhelming agricultural fields with water. Tea planter Roshan Rajadurai stated on dailymirror.lk that the tea industry is predicting a 30 to 35% reduced output. Farmers are facing serious crop damages. Lieke Schröder, a foreign investor based in Sri Lanka wrote an extensive social media post a few months ago dealing with foreign investment in agriculture. She stated that agriculture is presently estimated to only cover 0.24% of FDI. Lieke points out that she’s seeing a shift which includes the government taking efforts to solve issues foreign investors encounter, the Board of Investment (BOI) recognising investment projects in the North and her meeting startup founders combining agriculture and technology. Having FDI investment in agriculture can fasten its recovery and work to make this sector in a stronger state than ever before.

Other sectors which we should seek FDI include roads. This would be very useful for efforts to rebuild roads. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are businesses who have been seriously affected by this cyclone. Having FDI investment into MSMEs can save them from getting out of business and can restore them to make a positive contribution to Sri Lankan society.

PPP

The private sector has an important role to play in the recovery. The government should in my view have public-private partnerships (PPPs). As the government is working on restoring Sri Lanka, they should collaborate with the private sector when they have the skills and incentive to get involved. These would be a set of initiatives covering a range of sectors. An example could be a PPP with the construction sector focused on rebuilding efforts.

Aid

We have a necessity to seek foreign aid. Types of aid the government should make an effort to obtain include aid programs focused on disaster recovery and climate change. Aid could also cover sectors I’ve mentioned above for FDI which are railways, agriculture, roads and MSMEs.

Look at Other Countries

We need to look at other countries who recovered from similar disasters. A focus should be made on developing countries and other countries in Asia as they will have similarities with Sri Lanka. The government should talk to the foreign heads of missions who can advise us based on their experiences.

Final Thoughts & Conclusion

I propose the government have an independent investigation carried out to find out why the Sri Lankan system failed in its response to Cyclone Ditwah. It should be conducted by independent professionals who aren’t involved in politics of the government or any opposition parties. This investigation should give the steps to be taken to prevent future natural disasters from causing devastation.

In rebuilding efforts for homes, roads, buildings, railways and more, we need to design and build them to withstand future disasters. The best engineers should be involved in these efforts. It was good to hear the Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stating that construction will not be allowed in flood zones and in areas with high-risk of landslides as part of the government’s relief for rebuilding homes.

We need to ensure that our recovery from Cyclone Ditwah does not hinder the economic progress we have made. It needs to be coordinated with our economic recovery. We need to engage with the international community to ease and accommodate our debt burden based on our current situation. Sri Lanka can’t afford to undo the economic gains made with another economic collapse.

This article does not cover all sectors damaged by Cyclone Ditwah and the full scale of what took place. That is outside the scope of this article. These are a set of suggestions for Sri Lanka’s recovery. I would appreciate hearing from others providing more suggestions on how to come out of this crisis. I am thinking of everyone affected by this unspeakable tragedy which includes those who died, got injured, lost loved ones, got their homes destroyed or damaged, farmers who suffered damaged crops among everyone else. I’m hopeful Sri Lanka will find a way to recover from this crisis.

System Change in Sri Lanka

 

A key demand of the protests in Sri Lanka which kicked the Rajapaksas out of power last year is system change. This is something we have yet to see. In this article, I’ll be giving my thoughts on how system change can be carried out.

Constitution of Sri Lanka

One aspect relates to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Both Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during their presidencies introduced draconian undemocratic amendments to the Constitution strengthening the power of the President, doing harm to rule of law and independence of government institutions which were the 18th Amendment in 2010 and the 20th Amendment in 2020. Following these two Rajapaksa presidencies, there were restorative amendments to the Constitution passed which were the 19th Amendment in 2015 and the 21st Amendment in 2022.

We can’t keep going back and forth between authoritarian and restorative constitutional amendments. This cycle must end. What’s tragic is that many parliamentarians voted for the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Amendments. They didn’t see the dangers of draconian amendments and even if they did, their thirst for power prevented them from voting sensibly. Then with the 20th Amendment, they went back to voting for an authoritarian amendment again not learning their lesson.

Firstly, it’s important that we learn not to vote again for rulers who seek to strengthen their powers and engage in corruption. Secondly, we need to elect sensible parliamentarians who won’t vote for such authoritarian laws. In the Parliament we should have, the government and opposition members will have different ideologies and policies, but they would all believe in values such as rule of law, integrity, good governance and serving the country well. Both sides should be competing to perform better in these fronts which would be a healthy competition.

Unity

Unity is an issue Sri Lanka has had a problem with for many years with mistrust occurring among different communities. A positive factor of last year’s protests is that it was a rare case of Sri Lankans of different ethnicities being part of a common movement. While that was one moment which didn’t solve unity, it’s imperative that we don’t go back to the way we used to be. That can very easily happen.

We need to have a united Sri Lanka with a common Sri Lankan identity. We should use what happened last year as a stepping stone to overcome our divisions and make permanent unity. It’s important to reflect on how politicians divided Sri Lankans. Unity is a valuable subject to be taught in schools. This issue ties into my previous point of the need for common values across parliamentarians. Unity should be another common value across the political divide.

Abolishing the Executive Presidency

I am of the view that the Executive Presidency needs to be abolished. This concentrates too much power on one individual. I believe it has caused much damage to Sri Lanka and is a major factor which contributed to Sri Lanka’s present state. A President who gets elected on a reform mandate gets corrupted by the system resulting in him or her not performing as promised and infuriating much of Sri Lanka.

It’s worth noting that Gotabaya Rajapaksa got elected President when the 19th Amendment was in force. The 19th Amendment greatly reduced the powers of the President. A parliamentary system could make it less likely for an individual with no political experience to be elected Head of Government. I think that we should transition into having an Executive Prime Minister with a ceremonial President.

Bribery and Corruption

Bribery and corruption unfortunately is very common in Sri Lanka including politics, the public and private sector. We need to have systems in place to deter individuals from engaging in these practices. There needs to be successful bribery and corruption prosecutions especially politicians.

We have been enabling bribery and corruption for a long time. This needs to change. Saying no to paying bribes including politicians will make a difference. If a politician asks for a bribe, when saying no there are important points to tell them. They are, this is causing damage to Sri Lanka, the need for system change and mention their election comments against bribery if they said it. Sri Lankan businesses should implement policies of not paying bribes to the government and for their staff not to solicit bribes from customers.

It’s important to teach school students the dangers of bribery and corruption including not participating in it and saying no to paying bribes. It would be useful for public servants and elected representatives to be instructed not to get involved in bribery and corruption when they start their roles. While this won’t prevent all public servants and elected representatives from engaging in these practices, it has the potential to noticeably reduce it.

Conclusion

I gave my perspective on four issues I think need to be fulfilled for system change in Sri Lanka. This is a small selection I gave with many more issues relating to system change needed. This process is an enormous challenge for us to undertake, but that shouldn’t deter us. We can accomplish system change. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic.

Sri Lanka's Role in the World's Most Populous Region

Tomas Pueyo recently wrote an article “Why Half of Humanity Lives in This Circle”. The circle he is referring to is known as the Valeriepieris circle as it was posted on the site Reddit by Ken Myers under the username valeriepieris. This circle is in much of Asia. I found it interesting as Sri Lanka is part of this circle. Sri Lanka is also part of the world’s most populated continent, Asia. I decided to write an article about Sri Lanka’s role in the circle which can also extend to Sri Lanka’s role in Asia. I’m presenting a positive fact about Sri Lanka with suggestions on how Sri Lanka can take advantage of this, especially during its current economic crisis.

Ken Myers’ Valeriepieris Circle from Reddit

Exports

This is a region that Sri Lanka can work on increasing its exports. Exporters of food should look for countries in this region who have a demand for agricultural items and packaged goods. Some packaged goods can be popular in regions nearby due to similarities in culture with Sri Lanka including neighbour India that is one of the world’s most populous countries. Items can be produced in Sri Lanka to support products manufactured in this region e.g. car parts. In the process of our export diversification, it’s important to look at how it can support this region.

FDI & Business Collaboration

Sri Lanka should try to seek foreign direct investment (FDI) from this region. We need to attract investment from successful industries in these countries to improve their counterparts in Sri Lanka. Companies from these countries can open offices in Sri Lanka to provide jobs with higher salaries than average. Sri Lankan businesses can seek business projects servicing clients in this region to cater to the majority of the world’s population.

Two years ago on this blog, I had mentioned an agreement signed between Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) and the European Association for Trade - Crafts - Industries (EIVHGI) in Vienna. Similar agreements can be signed with business organisations in this region.

Learn from Countries’ Successes

Countries in this circle have successes they are highly regarded for which Sri Lanka can learn from. I’ll give two countries’ successes. The South Korean economy went from an agricultural economy like Sri Lanka to one of the world’s leading economies. South Korea initiated policy reforms that led to significant growth in exports. Two important factors are the improvements they made in performing business and policies in support of innovation.

Singapore has taken strides in the fight against corruption. Their government agency responsible for investigating bribery and corruption is the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). When Singapore received self-governance in 1959, corruption was very prevalent in the government. Years later, following Singapore’s independence, laws were updated to strengthen the powers of CPIB officers and increase penalties for those guilty of corruption. It’s important to note that the CPIB’s powers to investigate corruption includes the private sector. These are a few positive changes initiated in these countries with many more successes to learn from. We can invite professionals from these countries to bring their expertise to help improve Sri Lanka.

Movement

This idea goes beyond Sri Lanka with the potential for a movement that can invite people from all these countries to have a voice on the world stage. This should be carried out by ordinary people and not involve politicians due to issues of bribery, corruption and bad character being unfortunately present among politicians in Asia. A focus on this movement should be on common improvements people in this circle wish to see.

This was a simple exercise I carried out. Sri Lanka being part of the world’s most populous region is a little-known positive fact for Sri Lankans to enjoy. I invite others to contribute on this topic. I’m keen to see what others can come up with using an in-depth analysis for Sri Lanka and other countries in the Valeriepieris circle. If you enjoyed reading this, you may be interested in my blog posts “Virtually Exploring Five Asian Cities” or “Sri Lankan Private Sector Development Proposal”.

Positive Sri Lankan Happenings in 2021

Sri Lanka is unfortunately in a sad state right now with its biggest problem being the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also the X-Press Pearl ship tragedy which is causing a serious marine environmental disaster as well as the floods and landslides. As a comfort to these difficult times, I decided to provide a list of positive incidents that occurred in Sri Lanka during the first half of this year. As I heard many of these stories from the companies responsible, I would like to say that I have no affiliation with any of these companies. I’m not trying to downplay or deny the problems facing Sri Lanka. I’m showcasing a side of Sri Lanka which gets less attention. I feature stories relating to exports, agriculture, sustainable business, the environment and more.

Tea Export Increases

The first three months of this year saw an increase of tea exports compared with the first three months of last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In January to March 2020, Sri Lanka exported 59.58 million kilograms of tea. This figure rose to 69.89 million kilograms of tea in January to March 2021 reporting a 17.3% increase. Similarly, Sri Lanka’s tea production in those periods increased by 34.2% from 53.68 million kilograms in January to March 2020 to 74.03 million kilograms in January to March 2021.

Spotify Sri Lanka

On the 24th of February, Spotify launched in Sri Lanka. Spotify is a popular global streaming service allowing people to listen to music. Spotify’s launch in Sri Lanka is part of its expansion into over 80 new markets globally. Spotify’s free service has restrictions, most notably its advertisements. Spotify Premium is the paid version of the service that is ad-free and allows downloading songs for offline listening. Spotify Sri Lanka has different premium plans for student, individual, duo and family. Listeners in Sri Lanka can listen to both international and Sri Lankan music on Spotify. An international album I recommend is the 1989 album “Sleeping With The Past” by my favourite singer Elton John. It features the hit songs “Healing Hands”, “Sacrifice”’ and “Club At The End Of The Street” which are well known in Sri Lanka (links lead to those songs on Spotify).

Sustainable Business

In early April, it was reported that Cargills initiated the first car park made of non-recyclable plastic in Sri Lanka. They partnered with AGC Innovate to launch the initiative “Paving with Plastic” where they made the decision to pave their Food City car parks using Plastic Modified Asphalt Concrete (PMAC), a green form of concrete using plastic. Plastic after use causes environmental problems due to staying in the environment without decomposing. The first car park constructed this way is the car park of their new Food City outlet in Walgama, a suburb of Matara. This car park has an area of 2100 square metres constructed using 800 kilograms of plastic waste which is the equivalent of 200,000 plastic bags.

   

Similarly, later that month Cargills teamed up with Unilever to reduce plastic waste for a recycling initiative. This initiative is a sustainable plastic waste management system that is operating at nine Cargills Food City Colombo outlets in addition to one KFC restaurant. There are bins at these locations where customers can dispose of hard plastics (cubs, tubs, bottles) or flexible plastics (wrappers, shopping bags). This plastic waste will be taken to a collection hub where it will be further segregated. The recyclable plastic waste will be sent to recycling centres and the non-recyclable plastic waste will go to waste-to-energy recovery centres for incineration. Cargills hope to eventually extend the project to cover all of their Food City outlets.

Unilever, the partner on Cargills’ plastic waste management system, revealed on this year’s World Environment Day (5th of June) that they’ve reduced their per tonne water consumption over the last decade by 73% through the 100% Re-Aqua initiative. The 100% Re-Aqua initiative part of their Ceytea Factory deals with reusing water. Unilever has decreased their yearly water consumption by 135,400 cubic metres (approximately 135 million litres). This is equivalent to the amount of water used by 1,100 Sri Lankan households annually.

Exports Training  

On the 3rd of May, the Colombo School of Business Management (CSBM) signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Institute of Exports (NIOE), the educational division of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCESL). Under this new agreement, CBSM will teach programs previously developed and taught by the NIOE. The first program to be taught under this partnership will be a Diploma in International Trade Management. It was developed with the assistance of experienced specialists of the international trading industry and will be taught by industry professionals. Many field visits are included to give students a holistic understanding of the industry. The NCESL when talking about this initiative pointed out that export managers currently are primarily self-made with only some recognition unlike managers in other professions.

Discovery of an Undisturbed Coral Reef

The Sri Lanka Navy revealed that they discovered an undisturbed coral reef on the 7th of May. This reef is located in Sri Lanka’s Eastern coastline, being placed 1.5 to 4.5 metres below the sea surface. The reef spreads over 500 by 500 metres, giving an area of 25 hectares which is a quarter of a square kilometre. The Navy chose not to reveal the specific location of the reef as they are concerned that several visits to the reef may threaten its safety. This is important to Sri Lanka’s ocean, especially after the X-Press Pearl environmental disaster.

Rubber

On the 16th of May, Dr. L.M.K. Tillekeratne, former head of the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL) wrote an article “Improved rubber prices should see increase in production” in the Sunday Times where he pointed out that rubber production in Sri Lanka has unfortunately been declining. He mentioned that one of the main reasons for this decline is the low rubber prices in the world market which in recent years was usually below the production cost. There is a need to increase production of raw rubber and use them to make value-added products such as examination gloves that are in big demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Tillekeratne mentioned that there is currently a massive demand for rubber showing a significant increase in rubber prices that will last for more months if not years. Rubber farmers have the opportunity to apply agricultural methods recommended by the RRISL mentioned in the article to take advantage of the higher prices. Doing this will likely lead to improved annual rubber yields in kilograms per hectare. This month, a Sri Lankan rubber and tea plantation company Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (KVPL) received a Sustainability Framework Certificate. The natural rubber sector has issues of deforestation and this certification signifies KNPL is involved in sustainable rubber production.

Reforestation 

The John Keells Foundation, the charitable division of the John Keells Group announced early this month their three year collaboration with non-governmental organisation (NGO) Ruk Rakagano (The Tree Society of Sri Lanka) in reforesting 20 hectares of forest land. The reforestation is for the Suduwalipotha Forest in the Kalawana Range. This project will plant at least 13,000 trees in its first year which will be maintained for the remainder of the three years. Native vegetation will be planted in this land with the intention to transform it into a similar environment to that of the Sinharaja Forest which it is located next to.

MSMEs

This month it was reported that the Sri Lankan organisation Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) signed an agreement with the European Association for Trade - Crafts - Industries (EIVHGI) in Vienna, Austria. This agreement is to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in South Asia and to promote business partnerships between the two regions. Sri Lankan MSMEs have the opportunities to benefit from it. Sri Lankan MSMEs can make progress in post-COVID industry development through it as it includes knowledge transfer of trade, craft and industry from Europe.

These are a selection of positive stories from Sri Lanka so far this year. Similar to how those responsible for these stories used their knowledge and skills, I hope others will use their skills to work on the immediate problems facing Sri Lanka as well as long term issues that stem from Sri Lanka’s status as a developing country. Let’s work towards a better Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Private Sector Development Proposal

In this article, I am proposing an idea for the Sri Lankan private sector to develop Sri Lanka. It would

be an initiative that many private companies would partake in, independent of the government. This

initiative would have the participation of many private companies with an aim to take Sri Lanka

forward, based on what the private sector is capable of doing in its current setup. This project would

be profit making, but with a motivation to improve the country. I’m aware that the way the private

sector operates is by competition, but the private sector is known to sometimes collaborate on

certain issues. I hope my idea will get people thinking about the feasibility of this initiative. I’ll now

mention my ideas on how this project could go about.

Those responsible for this project would study and take note of the strengths the private sector has

over the public sector. They would avoid ideas that may be controversial and/or seemingly tied to a

political ideology. This is as there will be Sri Lankans of different political views working together on

the project. Finding common ground is important, where the project planners would come up with a

list of common objectives that Sri Lankans across the political divide want for the country. They

would then narrow the list down based on factors like cost and practicality.

This project would have a plan consisting of a timetable that’ll list by what date things can get done. The project would go on irrespective of any changes that happen in government. This would give international investors a consistent message of changes and changes in the pipeline that can garner their investments. This would also give Sri Lankans an ability to see how good this team is going ahead with their plan and use it to hold them to account.

I’ll now list some improvements this project could deal with:

• More investments are needed in Sri Lanka’s manufacturing sector to boost exports. Work on increasing domestic investments in the manufacturing sector as well as in other sectors.
• Work on obtaining more FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments) in the manufacturing sector and other sectors. 
• Work to combat bribery and corruption in the private sector.
• Work to improve the ethical conduct of the private sector.
• Work to improve job opportunities, thus reducing the number of unemployed people in Sri Lanka.   
• Take steps to increase the average wage in Sri Lanka. 
• Have entrepreneurship as an important factor of this project where entrepreneurship is encouraged and looked out for.
• Find ways to remove the hassles of getting things done in Sri Lanka.
• Come up with a list of efficient service ideas businesses can use to improve their service delivery for both consumers and the businesses. Following that, work on implementing the practical ideas.
• Work on developing solutions to Sri Lanka’s problems that businesses can fix with new services.
• Work on getting major international businesses to set up shop in Sri Lanka where the project team communicates to these international companies how a Sri Lankan presence can benefit them.
• Work on increasing and diversifying Sri Lanka’s exports.
• Work to make Sri Lanka a hub based on its strategic location. 

This was a idea I came up with for the Sri Lankan private sector to develop Sri Lanka. There are

more things that could be done not listed here. I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on my

proposal and people’s ideas of what a project like this could do. I think that if the private sector

works together in a plan like this, they are capable of taking the country further.