Choices

Sri Lanka’s confusing investment signals

Feb 21, 2010 (LBO) - I am often asked about how Sri Lanka is doing after the war. How much investment has come in, now that the LTTE monkey is off our backs. I …

Sri Lanka’s floods, dam breaks and senior ministers

Jan 24, 2011 (LBO) - On one side the big story is about the floods. On the other side is the political debate around “Senior Ministers.” Are they …

Sri Lanka universities live up to their billing: Reject PhDs and hire non-PhDs

Dec 24, 2010 (LBO) - In a recent column on the failure of Sri Lankan universities, I said that: Faculty select their successors.Poor-quality faculty will …

Sri Lanka’s visa changes

Nov 01, 2010 (LBO) - I keep getting asked about when Sri Lanka will change its visa policies. The out-of-the-blue announcement that visitors from all countries …

“Restart” Sri Lanka university faculty

Sept 21, 2010 (LBO) - When all else fails in a modern computer, we hit “restart.” The machine powers down, clears all kinds of dysfunctions from the system …

Sri Lanka university fees reduced

Aug 30, 2010 (LBO) - The Minister of Higher Education has been quoted in the media as planning to reduce the fees charged from foreign students wishing to …

Sri Lanka price floor for mobile calls

July 12, 2010 (LBO) - It is not the responsibility of a regulatory agency to ensure the profitability of telecom operators. Yet, when every single operator in …

Sri Lanka ITES; the problem is people

July 5, 2010 (LBO) - Although Sri Lanka was not known for exports of IT and business processing services, since 2005 this activity has graduated to earn around …

Sri Lanka’s infrastructure; a tale of two cities

May 18, 2010 (LBO) - Coming from Brasilia to waterlogged Colombo was a shock. Brazil is still not a developed economy, but its capital, Brasilia, definitely …

Connecting SAARC: Telecom trumps borders, not

May 04, 2010 (LBO) - The Wagah border crossing on the Grand Trunk Road, between Lahore and Amritsar, is world famous for the elaborate rituals of nationalism …

Prerequisites for enhancing Sri Lanka’s status as a shipping hub

Apr 05, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is to become a “Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub.” What are the conditions for maintaining and …

Sri Lanka’s counterproductive nationalism

Apr 04, 2010 (LBO) - This is an election special. There is value in analyzing election messages. Whether positive or negative, such analysis advances debate …

Prerequisites for making Sri Lanka an energy hub

Mar 24, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is to become a “Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub.” Of the five hub visions, this is the longest shot. …

Consolidating Colombo, Sri Lanka as an aviation hub

Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is to become a "Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub." We are already an incipient aviation hub for the …

Prerequisites for making Sri Lanka (Gampaha District) a knowledge hub

Mar 01, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is to become a "Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub." According to Basil Rajapaksa, the leader of the ruling …

Prerequisites for making Sri Lanka a hub: Telecom

Feb 08, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is to become a "Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub." What can telecom contribute to the achievement of this …

Policy choices in Sri Lanka. Five years. What next?

Jan 28, 2010 (LBO) - The first Choices column (link) was published on the 11th of February 2005. The decision to take time from an already overloaded schedule …

Choices: Dividend or danger?

Jan 04, 2010 (LBO) - Welcomed the New Year in Dhaka.  In Bangladesh, one cannot not think about population.  Outside the city states, Bangladesh has the …

e Sri Lanka: Promise realized?

Dec 02, 2009 (LBO) - 2009 has been year of celebration for the ICT Agency, the entity created to implement the e Sri Lanka program. The capping event is the …

Waste disposal in Sri Lanka: User fees or kappam?

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) - In the bad old days, when Sri Lanka Telecom/Department of Telecommunications was the sole supplier/regulator/policy maker, one had to make …