Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
Sri Lanka is emerging as a global IT-BPO destination of choice in number of key focus domain areas. Sri Lanka is ranked among the Top 50 Global Outsourcing destinations by AT Kearney and ranked among Top 20 Emerging Cities by Global Services Magazine.
The growing IT-BPO industry in Colombo offers a unique advantage for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to enjoy premium access to a high quality talent pool, which is becoming increasingly challenging in large established destinations such as India and China. The environment is also highly conducive for establishing high-in-demand niche competency centers out of competition for even larger global services companies. Colombo has a well established road network with a quality supply of power, modern office facilities and a well developed set of support infrastructure services.
The modern international airport welcomes more than 20 international airlines with direct flights to many worldwide destinations weekly. There are over 140 flights per week to most cities in India. Most Indian cities are less than 2 hours away from Sri Lanka.
Colombo offers a rapidly growing niche workforce which is highly adaptable, innovative, English speaking and loyal. Currently, over 50,000 are employed in the IT and BPO industry in Colombo and the workforce is growing at over 20% year-on-year. The workforce is stable with very low attrition rates ranging from 10-15%.
The national level Competency Development Programs focus on building Sri Lanka as a Center of Excellence (COE) for key focus domain areas. Software services sector focus on Telecommunication, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) and Software Testing. Earnings from exports of IT-BPO sector have shown a steady upward trend during the past decade, and Annual exports of the ICT sector for the last three years recorded as US $ 213 million in 2007, US $ 256 million in 2008 and US $ 271 million in 2009.  The industry has set a target of $ 2bn in export revenue from IT-BPO sector by 2012. There are over 300 IT and BPO companies that operate in Sri Lanka, mostly small and medium companies and few large global players.
Sri Lanka has an open market economy and is the first country in South Asia to liberalize its economy. Many global companies have been operating in Sri Lanka for decades. Tax holidays range from 5-12 years. In addition, a concessionary rate of income tax of 15% up to a maximum period of 20 years is also extended after the tax holiday period. Government also provides special assistance on real estate acquisition based on investment and employment generation potential.
As a modern trading nation, Sri Lanka, now exports more than 2,000 products to almost every country in the world. In addition, Sri Lanka has emerged as the most preferred ICT/BPO hub in the Asian region. And is the destination renowned for Best-Of-Breed in Global Market. Sri Lanka acts as an off-shore development center for several fortune 500 companies from the USA, Ireland, UK, Australia, etc and joint venture development center companies from Sweden, Norway, USA, Japan etc.
Sri Lanka provides some ICT & BPO facilities for business entities that have set-up their operations in the island. These Companies include: HSBC, Industrial & Financial Systems (IFS), Amba Research, RR Donnelley, Quattro, Virtusa, eCollege, Eurocenter, Valista, Millennium Information Technology (owned by London Stock Exchange), Innodata Isogen etc.

Sri Lanka offers ample recreational facilities within just 2 to 3 hours of driving from Colombo. Exquisite beaches, wild life sanctuaries, cultural heritage sites dating back to 500 B.C., beautiful hill country views, surfing, water sports, and exciting night life makes Sri Lanka a truly a tropical paradise to live and work in. Mixing business and pleasure has never been this easy for the discerning expatriate professionals or to the frequent business traveler.

Reasons why you should select Sri Lanka.

• English is the business language and is highly used in Sri Lanka.
• IT Infrastructure – surpass International standard at cost effective rates. 
• Physical Infrastructure – Modern utilities and office space are cost effective.
• Professional Personnel – knowledgeable, skilled and highly Productive Personnel who are extremely competitive.
• Multi-lingual & multi-cultural society who understands western cultures with little or no effort.   
• Hospitality – Sri Lankan by nature are hospitable people, hence a workforce easier to work with.
• Blessed with a climate with no or negligible disruptions by natural disasters such as, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.
• No Political risks or risks of terrorism

Professional Services

The Professional Services industry in Sri Lanka is witnessing tremendous growth due to the expansion of the global BPO industry. This is further supplemented with the availability of a highly skilled talent pool at a competitive cost to cater to the needs of the industry.The growth of telecom penetration, strong focus on ICT education in schools has also encouraged this growth.

Sri Lanka boasts high levels of education with one of the highest literacy rates in South Asia. According to figures from the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, approximately 50,000 Sri Lankan qualify as accountants each year. The growing IT enabled services industry in Sri Lanka offers a unique advantage for enterprises to enjoy premium access to a high quality talent pool, which is becoming increasingly challenging to large established destinations. Sri Lanka is comparatively cost competitive than these established outsourcing destinations. Given the declining telecommunication costs, the environment is also highly favourable for establishing high-in-demand niche competency centers.

Companies being established locally are interested in introducing high-end financial research, analysis and development work into ITES industry. Among the focused areas, the financial and accounting services sector has shown notable growth. Many global companies have chosen to set up their services in Sri Lanka in order to have access to a high skilled workforce at competitive operational costs. Other sectors being focused upon are telecommunications, banking financial services and insurance, investment research and engineering services. Sri Lanka is a home for some leading business entities that have set-up their BPO operations in the island. These Companies include: HSBC, Motorola, Amba Research, RR Donnelley, Quattro, Eurocenter, Innodata Isogen etc.

Another emerging area of professional services in Sri Lanka is Building & construction services. IT related building services, such as plan designing, architecture are the most popular services currently providing. And Sri Lanka also caters for non IT related construction services for the global market in the forms of building & construction technology and facilities. Most of the Sri Lankan Universities and engineering educational institutions provide efficient , effective & skillful personnel for the industry.

Further the location of Sri Lanka in terms of time-differences allows it to cater to the European, Australian and the American market.
All these factors place Sri Lanka in a position to establish itself as one of the top outsourcing destinations.

Areas where the Sri Lankan Marker is currently catering for.
 

1. Legal Services
2. Accounting, Auditing & Book Keeping Services
3. Taxation Services
4. Management Consultancy Services Printing & publishing service
5. Engineering Services
6. Architectural Services
7. Medical & Dental Services
8. Veterinary Services
9. Services of Physiotherapists & Paramedical personnel
10. Software development service
11. Data processing services
12. Data base development service
13. Research and development service (on natural sciences, social sciences & humanities)
14. Advertising Services
15. Scientific & technical Consultancy Services
16. Packaging service
17. Convention service
18. Entertainment service
19. Photographic services
20. Service of fashion designers, modelers of cloths/hats.

Electronics
Electronic / Electrical are one of the key industries of Sri Lanka which is increasingly converging, with the ICT sector.
Preferential market access under the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and the European Union Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) Scheme is an added advantage for Sri Lankan exporters of electronic / electrical products.

Sri Lanka has extensive deposits of high quality minerals such as kaolin, feldspar, silica sand, quartz and ilmenite, which could be used as a base material for electronic products.
Sri Lanka has the required attributes for export ventures in the electronics industry. For example, the status of Sri Lankan workers as among the best educated and most trainable in South Asia is especially relevant. Already there are seven universities in Sri Lanka producing graduates in the fields of electronics, engineering and computer studies. In addition there are four institutes providing training in electronics. Availability of middle level engineers and managers also contribute positively to the expansion of this industry. Sri Lanka has the potential for rapid development in the electronics industry in the South Asian Region.
Research and development facilities and "troubleshooting" expertise for the electronics industry are available locally at several local institutes such as Arthur C. Clarke Centre and universities.
The total value of exports in electronics is around US$ 400 million. The major products exported are Boards/Panels (41%), Electrical wires (23%), Transformers (21%) and 15% other miscellaneous products and employment generation is around 30,000. The Sri Lanka electronics manufacturing industry was focused on production of a range of electronic components targeted towards global export markets. These products included magnetic heads, ferrite cores, fiber optic related products, printed circuit boards, compact fluorescents, memory modules, toroidal coils, thermal outfits, bio medical engineering products, household appliances and energy saving lamps.
There are about 30 companies which are presently engaged in manufacturing and exporting electronic products.