Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C. Mahinda Samarasinghe hosted a dialogue between State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath, and members of the Sri Lankan community from the field of information technology (IT), entrepreneurs and professionals who are residing in the United States. The meeting was held on Friday, 08 March 2024 at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C. and was convened with the objective of encouraging investment in IT-based industries in Sri Lanka by sharing the vision and progress towards developing the digital economy of Sri Lanka. Engagement with Sri Lankans in the U.S. on the planned global summit on digital development in June 2024 under the aegis of “DIGIECON 2030” initiative was also discussed. The Dialogue also provided an opportunity to receive ideas and views of Sri Lankans in the U.S. on how they might contribute to the digital development of Sri Lanka.
In his introductory remarks, the Ambassador highlighted the digitalization of government and the economy in the context of economic revival, instilling efficiency and recovery from the challenges of the recent past. He welcomed the participation of nearly 60 participants in the dialogue most of whom joined the forum online. He stated that the presence of State Minister Herath provided an ideal opportunity for those interested to learn of Sri Lanka’s efforts to develop the IT sector and to collaborate with Sri Lankan governmental institutions and the private sector in projects and initiatives to develop the field. Ambassador Samarasinghe also highlighted the economic progress taking place in Sri Lanka and mentioned that positive sentiments were being expressed from the United States government as well as multilateral financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.
State Minister Kanaka Herath made a detailed presentation on new initiatives in the digital development drive in Sri Lanka. He was joined by Sachindra Samararatne of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka. The State Minister outlined the 6 main pillars of Sri Lanka’s policy and welcomed investment, cooperation and support from Sri Lankans in the United States.
Minister (Commercial) of the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington D.C. Charitha Yattogoda, Principal Investigator, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of MIT, and entrepreneur Professor Saman Amarasinghe, Global Managing Director, Accenture LLC Pracash Thiyagarajaa, and member of the AI Policy Committee Lakmini Wijesundera also made brief interventions.
A detailed question and answer session ensued, moderated by Ambassador Samarasinghe, during which the participants expressed their ideas and proposals that were taken note by the State Minister and his team. The participants expressed their willingness to work with Sri Lanka and appreciated the initiative of engaging with them to discuss this critical aspects of digital development.
Concluding the dialogue, the Ambassador expressed the hope that the State Minister and his office would follow up on the various ideas and proposals that arose during the dialogue with other government agencies with a view to streamlining the digital transformation in Sri Lanka. He assured the participants that the Embassy was fully committed to coordinate this process.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Washington D.C.
11 March 2024
