The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 So, on those 1.6 million, we have to have a cost-benefit analysis; we must have value for money, ensure that we get the maximum for what we spend on the government service. There is no point in just saying that we have 1.6 million government servants when you could use them for a better future.

¶ 02 Then, as regards the digital economy, you must give tax incentives for digital start-ups. Forget about the problems that would come up with the IMF in giving tax incentives. We need to give tax incentives. If we do not give tax incentives to investors, you would basically discourage them investing in Sri Lanka.

¶ 03 Sir, the next one is the cashless economy. Ensure that we have a cashless economic drive in the country. The more we meddle with money moving, the more we would basically be looking at the dead past. But, if you look at going forward with the digital economy, the cashless economy, we need to bring the formal economy in and then, our revenue would be much greater. You are called upon to earn a revenue of five trillion rupees, which is 15 per cent of GDP, and to have a 5 per cent growth every year. So, unless you have the digitalization process in place, which would basically help increase revenue, be more user-friendly as well as improve the efficacy of collecting revenue, how are you going to achieve that?

¶ 04 The other area is agriculture, where the digitalization process could be used in an extremely profitable way. I am happy to see that the Bank of Ceylon has come forward to support agriculture. At this moment, I would like to quote from an article in the “Business Today” magazine of March, 2025. On page 40, it states:

¶ 05 “Drones are transforming agriculture in Sri Lanka, supported by the Bank of Ceylon (BOC). Professor Buddhi Marambe, an expert in climate-smart agriculture from the University of Peradeniya, has been a key player in these initiatives.”

¶ 06 Why do I mention this? Where there is initiative and it has been shown that there is a way forward in the correct direction, we need to recognize them. Today, many such findings go unnoticed without the talent being exposed. Always a politician comes forward instead of giving the credit to the person who really initiated it. Therefore, I think that technology is laudable and we must ensure that it is taken forward for a better tomorrow.

¶ 07 Our biggest problem is yield. We talk about production costs. We say here that we pay Rs. 130, 140 per kilo of paddy. Whatever we say, in the end the price of a kilo of rice goes up to Rs. 250, 260, 270. Therefore, what is needed is to increase productivity. When Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia harvest 6,000, 6,500, 7,000 kilograms per acre, Sri Lanka gets 4,000 to 4,500 kilograms per acre. You can use artificial intelligence for weather reporting. Is that not so, Hon. Namal Karunarathna, Hon. Minister? I have not seen you, but you are in the House. Please use it. I told the Ministerial Consultative Committee then about creating a radical reform. I have been in Parliament for 27 years and have heard what is said here every year. Even if heard, in the end only about two per cent gets implemented. Finally, it is said, “It happened then; it is happening now.” Saying so will not do. We must take Sri Lanka forward in a different way. Now, even the former Government that is not there has come back. Saying “they are bad, these are bad, now you are bad” is not good for the country. So, let us all get together and speak about the country and act. The development from 1948 after we took power from the British is not visible today. So we wonder why we have not done what the British could do. These are the areas in which we must take advantage of artificial intelligence and the digitization process. This is the best opportunity for agriculture. Therefore, act on it, because through that we can take the country forward.

¶ 08 Then, industrial automation is also required. Today, labour is very costly. But if you go for the industrial automation process, that would help you take the country forward for a better tomorrow.

¶ 09 Then, I move on to education. My digital literacy is far less than that of my daughters. When they tell us something about digitalization, we look dumbstruck. But the actual situation is, the world is moving forward and we have to adapt ourselves to that. Just because we do not have digital literacy, that does not mean we should lag behind. Then, we should give the unknown the opportunity and the leadership as well. I think it is necessary to give political leadership and experience in this regard is also important. The only way forward is to lead the government servants to do their job in the manner required.

¶ 10 There are many promises made by you. And you all have to be given time to ensure that you fulfil those. But, after one year, do not come back and still blame the past 76 years. Then, you would also be part of the 77 years of non-delivery of those promises. Therefore, if we are to build the country, it is necessary to correct the weaknesses in this country, not only the politicization that has happened for 76-77 years, but also the state terrorism that exists, through artificial intelligence and digitalization to create processes that eliminate inefficiency.

¶ 11 Then, coming back to education and digital literacy, I can remember the change that the Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe made when he was Minister of Education. I also can remember the revolutionary change the Hon. Lalith Athulathmudali made, bringing in the computer. At that time, looking at computers, people were saying that they were going to cause impotency. But today, you cannot live without computers and that does not mean that there is an impotent world. So, Sir, all I want to basically say at this particular moment is that let us ensure that we have a target of taking this country to a growth rate of 5 to 6 per cent.