SLT to invest 5% of revenue on R&D unit - Harin

It’s very disappointing to note that Sri Lanka’s so-called number one telecommunications service provider, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), does not have a Research and Development Unit and this is a major flaw, said Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando, at the World Trade Centre.

Speaking at the launch of Customer Solutions Innovation and Integration Experience Center (CSIC), one of Huawei’s further contributions to support Sri Lanka’s digital economy, yesterday, he said that not a single cent has being allocated by the company for R&D. “It’s true that there is a team that develops apps but this is not enough.”

He said he will take steps immediately to set up an R&D Unit at SLT and then follow it by allocating 5% of SLT revenue to maintain this unit. He also said that the fourth industrial revolution in the world revolved around digital infrastructure and the government is paying a key emphasis in this area. Minister Fernando said still Sri Lanka offers one of the lowest telecommunications tariffs in the world. He also said he had made several appeals to Sri Lankan telecom companies to set up CSIC Units and only Huawei responded.

“The establishment of CSIC is the connection with the MOU that the Sri Lanka government signed with Huawei when Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and I visited Huawei headquarters in China last year. As a leading global ICT company, Huawei’s value and contribution will support ICT development in Sri Lanka,” said Yang Zuoyuan, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka.

He said that if a country sees a 20% growth in their ICT sector, that nation would see a 1% growth to their GDP.

Commenting on the opening, Shunli Wang, Huawei Sri Lanka’s CEO said, “The establishment of CSIC is one of Huawei’s further contributions to support Sri Lanka’s digital economy and ICT development following the national broadband forum and ‘Seeds for the Future’ programme we organized last year. We are willing to share our global best practices and experience and work with stakeholders to make innovations and support Sri Lanka to be a digitally empowered nation.”