The Sri Lankan Government has announced comprehensive support to aggressively grow the IT industry, by providing highly favorable investment opportunities for Australian companies. Already booming at a brisk 23% p.a., not even the GFC could slow down the local Sri Lankan IT/ICT industry, with foreign investment attracted to the combination of ?South Asian affordability ? Western quality standards.?
International Financial and Banking analysts agree that Sri Lankan technology firms are primed for significant investment growth. HSBC has raised their credit rating to BB-/Stable, A.T. Kearney?s Global Services Location index places Sri Lanka into their top 25 destinations, and the Royal Bank of Scotland has applauded policy making which keeps inflation in check.
Overall the economy grew by 8%, with inflation being minimized by the central bank, allowing the reverse rate to remain at just 7.5%. Corporate tax rates are being lowered from 35% to 28%. In this favorable economic environment, companies such as Microsoft, Motorola, SAS, Nokia and The Body Shop have created significant ties with the country, including investment, and the purchase of major services (IT Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing.)
The Government is allowing Total Foreign Ownership, with no restrictions on repatriation earnings, and the rights of foreign investment is guaranteed by the constitution. Coupled with an advanced educational program, the Sri Lankan workforce is highly educated, English literate and renowned for a strong work ethic.
David Lester, Director of the London Stock Exchange (Information Services) was one of the early entrants. ?Partnering with a Sri Lankan based company has been refreshingly straightforward. Our presence in Colombo provides us with an important footprint in Asia.?
?The Government has seen how resilient our IT/ICT companies are, and how attractive their services have become to US Fortune 500, Canadian and UK companies. That?s why we have set course for the IT/ICT industry to generate US $1Billion in export revenue to employ more than 100,000 people within 5 years, and ensure that the ITO/BPO industry becomes a top revenue earner within 10 years. We are excited to extend a warm invitation to Australian companies to realize the significant opportunities that exist here, including generous tax holidays,? says Reshan Dewapura, CEO of The Information Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka.
The industry has created international confidence, given that it has thrived in the face of extraordinary conditions, not least of which the New Year Tsunami. ?Our local business leaders have done very well, to build robust and internationally competitive businesses,? say Fayaz Hudah, Program Head at ICTA.
A Government sponsored delegation of leading Sri Lankan IT/ICT companies will be attending CeBIT in Sydney, and visiting Melbourne to meet with investors and local IT/ICT companies. They will be available to answer questions for the Australian investment and analyst community at these times:
Source:http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/8940
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