BANGALORE
NOVEMBER 7, 2006

Sri Lanka Science & Technology Minister Tissa Vitharana invited Indian IT firms to invest in the island nation for leveraging the IT skills of its citizens.

"We want to benefit from the Indian IT boom and prevent our talented engineers from leaving the country for greener pastures in the absence of a strong technology base," Vitharana told reporters.

Visiting the premier exposition for a first hand account of the Indian tech industry prowess, Vitharana said with about 95 percent literacy, Sri Lanka was quite resourceful to create a knowledge workforce for software and IT-enabled services, including BPO and call centres.

"With the free trade agreement (FTA) and historical ties between the two countries, Sri Lanka need not be treated differently, as the island nation is part of the Indian ethos and development process over the centuries.

We want the Indian IT industry to make best use of our resources and assist our government in creating an eco-system for replicating India's success story in the knowledge sector," the minister said.

The island nation is also interested in promoting high-tech industries, especially in nano-technology and chip design and semiconductor. "Though our industrial base is small, it is quite flexible. We offer overseas investors fiscal incentives such as tax holiday, interest subsidy and freedom to repatriate profits, besides quality infrastructure, including energy and land," Vitharana pointed out.

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