Sri Lanka needs to re-examine and modify under-utilized tax incentives that were put in place a few years ago to promote R&D while encouraging domestic high net worth individuals and firms to enter into angel and venture financing, Rohan Samarajiva, founding Chair of LIRNEasia said.
Sri Lanka needs to foster a mindset conductive to innovation and larger-than-Sri Lanka thinking while enabling closer university-industry collaboration wherein multiple firms in the same industry would work with selected academic units.
He also explained that it is necessary to establish magnet demonstration schools at the secondary level sponsored by associations such as the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and SLASSCOM that will demonstrate innovation-focused learning.
Samarajiva further urged the need to encourage foreign entities with expertise to consider Sri Lanka and legislate to permit a company to have more than 50 shareholders to enable effective crowd-funding platform similar to Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
According to him, Sri Lanka could easily emerge as a regional leader in innovation, home to Sri Lankan and global firms in diverse industries who research, design, innovate and test world-class products and services in a highly competitive business environment.
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