Urging those doing well to do good, Sarvodaya Development Finance (SDF) Chairman Channa De Silva called upon all those able to help build a smart economy by empowering rural youth to be global tech entrepreneurs, to do so.
“It’s time to implement putting an end to talking if this country is to be developed someday even after our life. It is a shame that our students had to get on to roof and tree-tops to connect to online education when telcos have been making enormous profits,” De Silva said urging law makers to waste no time to smarten up the village through access to technology and tech skills.
SDF , the financial services arm of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, one of Sri Lanka’s pioneering social movements opened a dialog with business leaders last week to explore the ‘Smart Village’ concept to enable business growth and thereby create a shared economic ecosystem in the country.
“There is so much potential among children today who are smarter. I was surprised by the ideas they shared during my interaction with school children in villages,” Founder and Chairperson Mother Sri Lanka Dr. Janaki Kuruppu said Sri Lanka would remain a developing country if it fails to empower youth to keep pace with a tech driven world.
CEO and Co-Founder Zmessenger, Jayomi Lokuliyana stressed the need to tap the nearly five billion global digitally connected population while citing examples from Australia which provides on call assistance for even registering businesses and training on digital marketing.
“There is ample scope if one wants to excel in the tech sphere wherever he or she is,” Lokuliyana said.
NDB Investment Bank CEO Darshan Perera said enabling SMEs the backbone of the economy to access funds is pivotal but unfortunately most development banks have moved away from SME to corporate banking.