SRI LANKAN ECONOMY &
HIGH TECH EXPORTS
Designing a product that can be marketed and sold in large
numbers is a challenging, yet an interesting task
S
ri Lanka is a country with a
rich history of proud achievements. Often in our childhood,
we were told the great stories
of how Sri Lanka was flourished by the
economic strength it had in the past.
But today, what we have to witness is a
totally different situation.
The economy of a country is based on
imports and exports. Sri Lanka is a country which heavily depends on imports,
but the contribution from the exports
are comparatively less. A few decades
back, tea, coconut and rubber were the
major exports which contributed to the
GDP (Gross Domestic Product). But that
situation is no more. The World is evolving,
markets are changing, but we are lagging behind.
Considering the current situation of Sri Lankan export industry,
our products and markets are heavily concentrated. This has led
to a weaker economic condition making the export sector highly
dependent on few products and few markets. If this situation
continues we will witness the emerging 3rd world countries
taking us over in terms of economic strength. What options are
Source: http://emergingtech.tbr.edu/
Sri Lanka’s contribution from high-tech exports to GDP is 1.8%,
whereas in Vietnam it is 30%, in Thailand 27% and in Malaysia
it is more than 50%.
To produce high-tech exports, highly skilled personals are needed. Engineers are the critical set of skilled personal in this context. Approximately 2000 engineers pass out from engineering
faculties in Sri Lanka per year. So why can’t engineers produce
high-tech exports? The main reason is most of the engineers
there to be exploited to change this situation?
join the services sector once they pass out. Only a few number of
High Tech Exports are high value and high-profit exports, which
Design Engineering (PDE) jobs since they are less in numbers and
are produced using high-end technology. This is one of the
best options to boost the economy. But the current situation of
our high-tech exports is not adequate enough. In 2014, GDP of
Sri Lanka was 75 Billion USD. Out of that 11 Billion was from
exports which are nearly 15% from the GDP. In countries like
Malaysia and Thailand percentages are as high as 70% to 80%.
20
Gauge Newsletter
University of Peradeniya
graduates go into Research and Development (R&D) or Product
services sector jobs looks more stable. Although some graduates
try with startup industries, apart from the computer/software
engineering domain, startups are very much less. Main reason
startups are l agging behind is the funding. Financial institutes
are not much keen in funding startups. But now there are signs
of emerging platforms to support startups. Contributing more