ICTA CEO bullish on IT/BPO rise

Says Sri Lanka can reach goal of $ 1 b industry by 2015

Sri Lanka can definitely reach the goal of becoming a one billion dollar industry in the IT/BPO sector by 2015, says ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) CEO Reshan Dewapura.

The ICTA CEO made this revelation while delivering his keynote address at the Sri Lanka 2011 Economic Summit organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo recently.

According to Gartner the global potential for ICT/BPO market is expected to be $1.5 trillion while the addressable ICT/BPO offshoring market is estimated at $ 500 billion. Out of this only about 25 per cent, i.e., $ 125 billion has been captured. ICT / BPO offshoring market is expected to grow up to US $300 billion within the next five years. Sri Lanka hopes to capture between 0.5% and 1% out of this growth.

If this is achieved Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO could go well beyond being one billion dollar industry by 2015. When we consider the ICT sector in Sri Lanka it can be affirmed with confidence that Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO industry can reach the goal of the one billion US dollar mark by 2015.

It can be also affirmed that this industry in Sri Lanka could become, say a two to three billion US dollar industry in 2020.  This will also ensure that Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO industry becomes the country’s number one foreign exchange earner and number one employment generator by 2020.  

Sri Lanka’s past performance, including the rate of growth and the recognition by relevant reputed international and regional monitoring bodies, constitute a firm foundation for the above affirmation. The resources available, the Government’s commitment and support and the holistic pattern of development as opposed to isolated development, all these plus points point to this affirmation, Dewapura corroborated.

Referring to the Government’s future plans that would go a long way in achieving the above goal Dewapura said: “The Government’s plans for the future include ensuring that we build the talent capacity needed to facilitate this industry, continue to do country branding and attract new investors and companies here and develop the existing companies, and strengthen infrastructure by constructing IT parks, etc.”