Why entrepreneurship & startups are the key to post Covid-19 economic recovery in Sri Lanka
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Thoughts from the Silicon Valley (USA) tech entrepreneur Punsri Abeywickrema
Punsri Abeywickrema is a Sri Lankan American technology entrepreneur who spent two decades of his life working in the U.S. Silicon Valley companies such as PayPal, LinkedIn, Oracle, Sephora and built three of his own tech startups including the popular American eCommerce site CloudofGoods.com and Sri Lanka based software company iLabs.lk.
Mr. Abeywickrema moved back to Sri Lanka last year and he’s on a mission to develop Sri Lankan technology entrepreneurs who’d innovate and create solutions for the global markets. Mr. Abeywickrema has a unique perspective about the role of entrepreneurship & startups in post Covid-19 economic recovery in Sri Lanka.
Role of entrepreneurship in the global economy
Many experts say that entrepreneurship is the backbone of any economy. In this day and age, where humanity is facing unprecedented challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, global warming, and many other social, economic and environmental issues, Mr. Abeywickrema believes that entrepreneurs will be the ones to solve humanity’s greatest challenges and navigate us towards socio-economic stability and prosperity again!
Finding order in the chaos
“It is the entrepreneurs who will find order in the chaos to navigate humanity out of darkness to a new normal. We must realize that every broken process, every failed business, every challenge we as humans face today, creates an enormous opportunity to design a new normal for the future of the world.” says Mr. Abeywickrema.
The Distant Economy
Entrepreneurship is the key to accelerate post covid-19 economic recovery around the world. From creating social change to drive innovation, entrepreneurs will lead the society towards a new normal. By finding innovative solutions to social, financial and environmental issues, entrepreneurs will spearhead the post-covid-19 economic recovery and pioneer the new economy known as the “Distant Economy”.
“Just like how the Sharing Economy created massive opportunities as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis, it is expected that the Distant Economy will create even bigger opportunities globally.” Says
Mr. Abeywickrema.
Maximizing post Covid-19 economic opportunities
In order for Sri Lanka to seize the global opportunities created by the Distant Economy, Sri Lanka must capitalize on promoting and nurturing entrepreneurship in a massive way like never before in every sector and every part of the country including the remote villages. Time is now to act and if we act now, we’ll be well positioned to ride the wave of the post Covid-19 global economic recovery!
To promote entrepreneurship and accelerate innovation, Sri Lanka must:
- Create policies that advocate for the growth of startups and small businesses
- Develop a support framework for sparking entrepreneurship in every sector and every corner of the country including the remote village communities
- Create a culture appreciating entrepreneurship and a culture that embraces failure
- Make venture capital investment and other financing options easily accessible to entrepreneurs
- Create an ecosystem with infrastructure, resources, funding options, and expert knowledge where entrepreneurs can thrive
- Provide significant incentives and assistance to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs who are competing in the global markets
Covid-19 pandemic has created enormous global opportunities for entrepreneurs and we must encourage Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to think beyond Sri Lanka to solve massive global problems.
If we as a nation take the bold steps to promote entrepreneurship in an unprecedented way and do whatever it takes to support our entrepreneurs, the day a Sri Lankan entrepreneur would create the next Uber or the next eBay or the next world changing technology, product, or service may not be too far out!