Professor of Economics Gamini Gunawardane said that the country’s services sector is the largest contributor to the Sri Lankan economy; 61.7 percent of the GDP is attributable to services and this sector employs 45 percent of labour compared to 26.5 percent in the industry sector and 28.5 in the agriculture sector.
A lecturer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Prof. Gunawardane made these remarks to a group of intellectuals at a seminar in Colombo to educate economists on the importance of developing the Sri Lankan service sector.
He said Sri Lanka needs to become an attractive country for global outsourcing services for the business as well as tourism sectors and it is essential to improve tourism, travel, hotels and other hospitality services, communications and information systems.
Referring to the book, 'Service Management: Concepts, Principles and Applications for Sri Lanka', written by him focusing on the country’s service sector, Prof Gunawardane said it covers most important service management concepts and principles practised in Sri Lanka and many other Asian countries.
The book will be launched on August 25 at 5.30 pm at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.
Colombo University Vice Chancellor Professor Lakshman Dissanayake will be the chief guest while Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne, Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare will make the keynote speech. Prof. Gunawardane mentioned that the government has emphasized the need to improve public services for the benefit of the citizen and also highlighted the need to improve service management.
Quoting recent research, Prof Gunawardanae said the largest subsectors within the service sector in a country are wholesale and retail trade, transportation, public services, health services, educational services and tourism and hospitality services.
He also said that the education, training and research in service management in our country should be improved to a greater extent and said his book is the first truly international comparative study on service management.
Prof. Gunawardane said Sri Lanka is seeking to become a partner with foreign investors and businesses to expand the sector globally.
“Such firms need highly efficient financial, communication, information technology and other business services,” he said
A product of Ananda College, Colombo and St. Thomas’ College (Matara), Prof. Gunawardane completed his university education at the University of Ceylon receiving a BSc (First Class) degree and at the Vidyodaya University receiving an MBA (Distinction Pass).
He was also graduated from University of Chicago, USA and received his MBA and PhD specializing in Operations Research and Operations Management. Prof. Gunawardane is also recognized as an international scholar in service management.
He has over 25 publications in international peer-reviewed scholarly journals, many of which have been cited by other scholars in their work.
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