Develop bankable business models to attract DPI investment: Dr. Hans

Sri Lanka must focus on developing bankable business models to attract global investment that would help improve its digital public infrastructure, according to Chief Advisor to President on Digital Economy Dr. Hans Wijeyasuriya.

As the island works towards its goal of uplifting the country’s GDP by US $ 10 billion by 2030, through the digital economy, Dr. Wijeyasuriya emphasised that these models must be based on return on investment, to ensure sustainability and success. “The DPI cannot be charitable infrastructure. The public, private and development sectors should work together to create business models that finance the digital economy into the future,” Dr. Wijeyasuriya stated, addressing the inauguration of Sri Lanka Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Summit 2025 yesterday. According to Dr. Wijeyasuriya, these business models should clearly demonstrate economic value for global investors.  The private sector should focus on elevating the country’s economic dividend, while the development sector should prioritise environmental, social and governance (ESG) dividends.

“If we combine economic and societal dividends, we can build a sustainable digital economy with impressive returns,” he said.

Dr. Wijeyasuriya also highlighted the importance of focusing on citizens’ experiences as the number one key performance indicator (KPI) for the digital transformation drive. “Efforts must aim to improve citizens’ access to public services while keeping the global environment in mind. Sri Lanka must compete in a friendly and competitive manner on the world stage,” he stated. Furthermore, Dr. Wijeyasuriya stressed on the need for a multi-sector approach to promote digital empowerment, inclusive growth and transparency at national level.  With Sri Lanka’s mature legal framework already in place, he opined that the investors need not worry about the stability of the country’s legal environment. “We have everything in place to create an ecosystem that promises a return on investment with a competitive cost of capital,” Dr. Wijeyasuriya said. (NR)