No better time than now to live in Sri Lanka
While the country is facing numerous challenges in re-building many sectors after the Easter Sunday attacks, it’s one of those crucial times to learn from the previous mistakes and do things right this time. “There is no better time than now to live in Sri Lanka,” says a tech expert.
Ruwindhu Peiris, Managing Director of Stax Inc made this remark during a think tank forum organised by NiApreneurs at the Access Towers in Colombo last Wednesday.
He said, “The technology industry in Sri Lanka thrives on, in fact it only exists because of the necessity or constant ability to reinvent yourself. We Sri Lankans should ask ourselves, are we defining the future? There is no better time than now to live in Sri Lanka.”
Elaborating further on the industry he mentioned, technology is one of the fastest growing industries completely under the radar. The industry is targeting US$1.5 to 1.8 billion this year in exports. “What’s more important about the technology exports is that 98 per cent of exports retain in the country in comparison to other export oriented industries where 50-60 per cent of the export revenue is retained out of the country. It’s one of the most significant, high velocity, FDI generators for the country. The industry is extremely grateful to the 80,000 people in the industry who are generating this revenue. Technology is a highly impactful industry globally and in Sri Lanka it’s taking form,” he added.
Abans Group CEO, Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne elaborating on the retail industry, said there are number of reasons to be positive and optimistic about post Easter Sunday attacks. One of the challenges and areas of concern is there is a lot of focus on insight business in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world. But there is a question of insight versus foresight. “VUCA world needs a lot more foresight. There are pieces of information in different places, but the people need to put them together and have a foresight to say what is likely to happen. Is there an excessive foresight around us today which will help us to be better tomorrow both in the businesses and in the country?” he stressed.
Jetwing Hotels Chairperson, Shiromal Cooray said that the informal sector tourist destinations such as Mirissa, Ella, Arugam Bay are doing quite well now with the back packer community have started travelling to Sri Lanka. Next will be the formal sector, she added.
JAT Holdings Managing Director, Aelian Gunawardene in his remarks mentioned that the most people affected are the Muslims. Most of the paint and hardware shops are run by Muslims and they are feeling a bit of a backlash or a sliding market because they are affected. Communities should come together, unite, help each other, look at the positive side of it and move forward. “Companies must also re-look at the budgets for the first quarter and from July onwards we are hoping to achieve the targets by the end of the year.”
Citibank Colombo Country head, Ravin Basnayake stated, the Sri Lankan banking industry is going through a lot of challenges. The issues in the banking industry are not because of the volatile environment but more of a structural issue while the volatility has added a different dimension to the problem.