The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Türkiye, held a productive meeting with the Chairman and board members of the Istanbul chapter of the Türkiye Information and Technology Association (TBD)

The Sri Lankan delegation led by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Türkiye, held a productive meeting with the Chairman and board members of the Istanbul chapter of the Türkiye Information and Technology Association (TBD) with a view to enhancing bilateral cooperation in the ICT and digital economy sectors between Sri Lanka and Türkiye.

During the discussions, the Sri Lankan delegation highlighted Sri Lanka’s growing potential as a regional IT and digital services hub in South Asia, supported by a highly skilled workforce, internationally recognized IT service providers, and a competitive business process management and outsourcing industry. The delegation also emphasized the Government of Sri Lanka’s strong policy focus on building a “Digital Economy” and invited Turkish stakeholders to explore opportunities in digital payments, e-government platforms, cybersecurity frameworks, AI and data analytics, HealthTech, SME digitalization, smart cities, cloud computing, and related sectors.

The Sri Lankan side further proposed the organization of dedicated business-to-business (B2B) matchmaking sessions between Turkish and Sri Lankan IT companies and encouraged Turkish investors to explore investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s dedicated IT and Tech Parks established under the Board of Investment (BOI), benefiting from the attractive incentives offered to foreign investors.

The delegation additionally proposed establishing a formal cooperation mechanism through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between TBD and an appropriate counterpart in  Sri Lanka to facilitate joint events, knowledge-sharing initiatives, and bilateral industry partnerships.

The TBD delegation expressed keen interest in strengthening collaboration with Sri Lankan counterparts, particularly with SLASSCOM and the Ministry of Digital Economy, and conveyed its preference to engage with Sri Lanka’s government-led digital and IT initiatives. TBD also invited relevant Sri Lankan stakeholders to participate in the Antalya IT Forum and expressed interest in organizing B2B meetings with Sri Lankan companies, learning more about Sri Lanka’s technology parks, and exchanging capacity development programmes between the two countries.

The Sri Lankan delegation reaffirmed their readiness to facilitate and support future engagements and collaborations between Sri Lankan and Turkish stakeholders in the ICT and digital economy sectors.