Advanced technology for Sri Lanka’s development through SMEs will benefit masses
During a high powered panel discussion on ‘Technology and Development – Can Nanotechnology Leapfrog the Development Process in Sri Lanka” in Colombo recently, one of the panellists pointed out that these advanced technological innovations should trickle down to the masses through SMEs (Small and Medium scale Enterprises) which constitutes around 80 per cent of Sri Lanka’s economy.
The discussion organised by the Society of International Development (SID) and held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) last week in Colombo included Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Senior Minister for Scientific Affairs and Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Technology and several researchers and scientists.
Dr. Bandula Perera, Chairman, Public Utilities Commission, the panellist who made the above comment, said that large companies make use of new technologies like nanotechnology as they know what they need.
But on the other hand Dr Perera indicated that if the country is to really develop then development should trickle down to the masses and that is through SMEs.
Prof. Vitharana pointed out that Sri Lanka is still in the same old rut of economic development with dependence on tea, rubber and coconut and due to this ‘development thinking’ the economy is not competing in the world market with other economically advanced countries.
He said that a country like Sri Lanka which is a relatively undeveloped to become competitive in the world market has to do some ‘leapfrogging’ in technology. He pointed out that countries like South Korea came out of poverty through technology based development. In the 1960s, he said Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP was US$320 while the per capita GDP in South Korea was only $82.
Prof Vitharana said that if one looks at the position two years ago though Sri Lanka’s per capita was $2,800, South Korea has climbed 10 times higher than Sri Lanka with $29,000. The reason, he said was because Korea was using ICT, micro-electronics and advanced materials technology. Including China and India, he said, other countries also made use of advanced technology, while Sri Lanka ‘missed all these buses’, pointing that if Sri Lanka wants to be ‘the wonder of Asia’, it should not rely on the type of development that is currently in place.
He said the answer lies in the rapid industrialisation and rapid value addition of raw materials based on advanced technology. He explained how he and several others scientists explored the most recent wave of technology development in the world and found that nanotechnology should be promoted for development with the other high-tech areas and also explained how they have set up the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC)
Minister Ranawaka had a contrasting view. He said focusing on nanotechnology alone would not suffice to leapfrog the development process of Sri Lanka, noting that the more pragmatic approach would be to discuss the broader question of whether advanced technology based on an innovation, driven knowledge economy could leapfrog development.
He said that much innovation is needed in the economic domain and when it comes to technological innovation not only nanotechnology, but all other disciplines of advanced technology are needed.
Prof. Gehan Amaratunga, Prof of Electrical Engineering, University of Cambridge and Chairman, Nanotechnology Focus Group was also among the speakers while the other panellists were Prof. Ajith De Alwis, Prof of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa and Anuska Wijesinghe, Research Fellow at IPS.