WE’RE LOOKING FOR CHAMPIONS OF THE SRI LANKAN IT/BPM INDUSTRY PREPARED FOR EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

The Context

With the ICT/BPM industry as the 5th largest export revenue earner for Sri Lanka, the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is looking to significantly bolster the capabilities of this sector by 2022. As such, the GoSL has made a provision of LKR 3 billion in an effort to generate USD 5 billion through ICT/BPM industry exports by 2022.

The Program

The Champion Builder program is a key component of the National Export Strategy’s IT/BPM initiatives and will focus on identifying and selecting high growth Technology Product/ Services and Knowledge Services companies in the sector and enabling these firms grow exponentially by providing financial and non-financial support.

The primary objectives of the initiatives are as follows:

1. Build a cohort of firms with exponential growth potential.
2. Implement an industry support program focused on growing champion firms and the overall industry
3. Boost the sector export revenue by US $2 billion to reach US $5 billion by 2022.

To achieve the desired industry growth and program outcomes, it is essential to provide support and guidance to selected Champion companies on branding, licensing, and IP while educating them on global standards that have to be met to improve their competitiveness in the global context. Furthermore, equipping companies with essential intelligence on trade development and providing trainings, tools, and financial assistance is critical for sustained growth over the next five years.

Champion Builder Industry Support Initiatives

The initiative has both company-level assistance programs specifically targeted at the selected Champion companies as well as industry-wide initiatives targeting the broader industry.

Company-specific Initiatives

A set of financial and non-financial initiatives have been identified. These will be further refined to create company-specific support plans.

Industry-specific Initiatives

These initiatives will focus on bringing foreign investments into Sri Lanka and driving global expansion of local companies.

Industry Vision

“Sri Lanka: A global IT-BPM centre of excellence of high-end product engineering, IP creation and knowledge process outsourcing”