Sri Lanka: Connecting The Unconnected: World Bank To Support E-Sri Lanka

WASHINGTON, September 21, 2004 – The World Bank today approved US$53 million credit for itsfirst integrated e-development  project, the e-Sri Lanka project -- a comprehensive program of leveraging Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve public service delivery, increase private sector competitiveness, promote new sources of growth, accelerate social development, bridge the digital divide, and support peace.  “This is an exciting program and we are delighted to be able to provide support for it,” says Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka.

> Listen to Country Director Peter Harrold discuss e-Sri Lanka

 “It supports the three key aims of our country strategy:  it underpins peace by connecting the North and the South; it enhances the prospects for growth, not only in the IT sector itself, but also by raising productivity growth in other sectors; and it advances the cause of equity, by improving the access of the poor to a range of public services.”

The e-Sri Lanka Development Project adopts a comprehensive approach that aims to bridge the digital divide, bringing the benefits of the global knowledge economy to both the urban centers and rural poor of Sri Lanka. ICT diffusion across the country will be the enabler for development throughout the key sectors of the economy.  Economic growth has been identified in the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) as “the main instrument for achieving prosperity and creating more resources for distribution.”   e-Sri Lanka, by laying the ground for a sustainable e-development process, will help further CAS objective of poverty reduction by supporting peace, growth and equity. 

The ICT Agency is the apex body assigned the responsibility to shape this shared vision and bring to fruition. 

The Agency will facilitate the implementation of the project engaging Sri Lankan leadership, the public, the private sector, and the international community through six component programs -- The e-Policy, Leadership, and Institutional Development Program; The ICT Education and Industry Promotion Program; Regional Telecommunication Network Development Program; Telecenter Development Program; The Re-engineering government program and the  e-Society Program.  These programs are based on pilots financed during project preparation phase that tested ideas, identified needs and assessed constraints to implementation.

“e-Sri Lanka aspires to the ideal of making Sri Lanka the most connected government to its people, and raising the quality of life of all its citizens with access to better public services, learning opportunities, and information. “said Nagy Hanna, World Bank’s  e-Sri Lanka Task Team Leader and Senior Advisor on e-Development. “But above all, the program aims at informing, connecting and enabling  isolated communities through ICT, and empowering  farmers, students and small entrepreneurs to dream and hope for a better future,”  he added. 

The proposed project would be implemented over a period of five years commencing from November 2004. The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending affiliate, is providing the US$53 million credit to the Government of Sri Lanka on standard IDA terms, with 40 years maturity and a ten-year grace period.

For more information on World Bank activities in Sri Lanka please visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/lk