The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the preliminary stages of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Pakistan was underway and urged the ICT companies of the private sector to make its recommendations to the government. "The private sector is less engaged and there is little feedback. The government cannot make decisions for the private sector. The agreement can open up new markets and you don’t have to be trapped in the small market here," ICTA Programme Manager Fayaz Hudah told the private sector at the ICTA-Private Sector Forum last week. Hudah called on the private sector to get actively involved in the consultative process of the government on the CEPA with Pakistan. Presenting an update on ICTA’s Private Sector programme for the second quarter (March-July 2008) he said that the greatest difficulty that was faced by the industry was that few people could afford to pursue higher education in ICT. "Besides the exodus of our ICT professionals, less and less people take up higher education in ICT as it is too expensive," Hudah said. The New Age Academy Programme (NAAP) will be launched in September this year to address this issue. "This is an industry initiative which will bring together academia, financiers, and students to accelerate the growth of the IT and BPO talent pool." The industry is to partner academia in a bid to increase capacity and to produce more industry ready graduates. Hudah highlighted another pressing issue affecting the sustainability of the ICT industry. "There is a lack of awareness of ICT at the grass-roots," he said. A fund has been created to build awareness among rural youth and build form among them employable youth for the ICT sector. The US$ 150,000 is to be used to raise the profile of the ICT/BPO sectors as career destinations and to provide information on requisite skills needed to join the industry. The targeted locations have been identified. Ratnapura, Kurunagala, Anuradhapura, Galle, Ampara, Wellawaya and Badulla. 2Q results Hudah presented key highlights for the second quarter. US$ 762,540 has been committed through the ICT Capacity Building Programme for the private sector. Twenty two companies had been awarded grants amounting to US$ 211 thousand to pursue Quality Certifications enabling local companies to be on par with the global ICT industry. Forty four grants had been awarded to companies amounting to US$ 194 thousand to train their employees. Nine scholarships had been awarded to individuals to follow short-term overseas courses amounting to US$ 54 thousand. The programme had awarded 9 grants amounting to UD$ 215 thousand to companies for ICT research and development. US$ 13,500 was awarded to 60 SMEs to computerize their accounts. Hudah said that since November 2005 the ICBP programme had funded 147 companies, 130 individual scholarships and 120 training programmes. "Over 5 thousand people have benefited through the ICBP programme which has committed US$ 1.8 million since November 2005," Hudah said. On CEPA Speaking to the Island Financial Review on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India and the ICT sector Hudah said that ICTA had felicitated the government’s consultancy with the private sector of the ICT industry. "India’s ICT industry is mature so we have to make sure that India does not flood our market. But at the same time there is a lot we can gain from India in terms of capacity development and training," Hudah said. He said that after consulting the private sector the government put on the table those areas which the industry felt Sri Lanka could benefit from India’s inputs. Investments and technological transfers is one area Sri Lanka can no doubt benefit immensely from India. "However, there is more that can be done to improve on CEPA before it is signed. And the private sector of the ICT industry has a big role to play." "When it comes to consulting the private sector it is not always easy to get everybody involved at an individual level. "The doors are open and ICT companies can always approach us (ICTA) and join us in the consultative process," Hudah said. |
