Government to Boost Scientific Research
12 September 2012
The government of Sri Lanka is set to increase allocation for scientific research by four fold, according to a report by the non-profit World Institute for Asian Studies. The present allocation of 0.5% of GDP is to be increased to 2% in the forthcoming budget in order to achieve the Mahinda Chintana objective of making Sri Lanka a knowledge hub in the region.
The plans were announced at a press conference by Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Technology and Research.
Wanniarachchi said that the Ministry has taken several measures to establish a close cooperation and coordination between the researchers and scientists working in institutions under her Ministry, WIAS reported in its Asian Tribune publication.
In order to educate companies of the work being carried out by the research institutions and to encourage them make use of these research activities, the Ministry announced plans to hold a “technology marketplace” in Colombo October 24-25. It will be a “show and tell to industry” event, she said.
The technology marketplace is expected to have booths that will showcase the research capabilities of several research institutions, a booth for the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) of the Ministry of Defense and workshops covering subjects relevant to research commercialization, including information on how intellectual property rights could be handled and investing in green technology.
