President pushes for high-tech infrastructure to accelerate growth

As Sri Lanka is looking towards a digital economy to accelerate growth, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed the need to establish the necessary infrastructure for high-tech cities.

Accordingly, the government is looking at one in the outskirts of Colombo, which at least has 100 acres or more. 
“Smaller areas like Jaffna and others could have their own cities, with about 25 to 50 acres, depending on the available land,” said Wickremesinghe while addressing the opening of the 2024 DigiEcon Global Investment Conference that kicked off in Colombo yesterday. 

The conference, themed ‘Harnessing Sri Lanka’s Untapped Potential’, aimed to showcase the country’s investment opportunities.

One major high-tech city would be in Colombo and if possible, another in Kandy, he said.

“This is our current thinking. We will focus significantly on human resource development and research. The rest is up to you. 

We must now look at how we can find more capital, possibly at a slightly concessional rate and development financing for you to get ahead,” Wickremesinghe told a fully-packed audience at the conference.
Wickremesinghe went on to stress that for any sector to expand, two factors: the economic crisis and utilisation of technology, must be considered.

Further, Sri Lanka also needs a workforce capable of developing and applying the required technology. 
“As far as the digital economy is concerned, we have identified it because there is a growing demand,” he said.
Wickremesinghe also pointed out that Sri Lanka has the potential to cater to the demand that is going to come up in Asia and Africa. 

“We are situated between two giants in this sector, China and India, covering both hardware and software. We need to utilise that knowledge and cooperate with these countries,” he said.