Sri Lanka reviewed a strategic roadmap for raising the country’s digital export earnings to US$5 billion by 2030 at a national workshop in Colombo on Friday, bringing together public and private sector stakeholders to build consensus on how the strategy should be implemented.
The workshop, titled “The Road to US$5 Billion,” was held at Cinnamon Life and organised by the Ministry of Digital Economy and GovTech Sri Lanka with technical assistance from the World Bank Group.
Opening remarks were delivered by Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne, Senior Presidential Adviser on Digital Economy and GovTech Sri Lanka Chairman Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, and International Finance Corporation Lead Industry Specialist Victor Antonypillai.
What the roadmap covers
Participants reviewed an assessment report on Sri Lanka’s information technology industry alongside the proposed roadmap, which was prepared by local and international consultants from KPMG with World Bank technical support. It was further developed with input from the Ministry of Digital Economy, GovTech Sri Lanka and the Industry Development Committee.
Thematic sessions focused on developing future-ready digital skills, strengthening innovation and support for independent professionals, expanding access to global markets, and improving the policies, investment and infrastructure needed for sustained growth.
Discussions also covered how to strengthen Sri Lanka’s competitiveness in the global digital marketplace, the growing effect of artificial intelligence on businesses and employment, promoting high-value digital exports built on intellectual property, and helping locally developed digital products reach international buyers.
Next steps
The government said the roadmap is intended to provide an evidence-based framework for improving the international competitiveness of the local digital industry, creating quality jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities, expanding exports of Sri Lankan digital products and services, and positioning the country as a regional digital economy leader.
The document will be refined further using recommendations made at the workshop. The next phase will produce an integrated action plan setting out priority initiatives, the institutions responsible for each, implementation timelines and progress indicators.
The exercise follows a wider restructuring of the state’s digital institutions, in which ICTA was wound down after 23 years and replaced by GovTech and a digital economy authority backed by World Bank and Asian Development Bank funding.
