The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) was launched on 13th Nov 2023 with the participation of the Minister of Industries and Health, Hon Dr Ramesh Pathirana, State Minister of Technology, Hon Kanaka Herath, Mrs Tilaka Jayasundara, Secretary, Ministry of Industries,, Suresh De Mel, National Ambassador for GEN, Ms. Mahesha Amarasuriya, Director, Mastercard, Harsha Randeny, Country Manager Microsoft, Indika De Zoysa, VP Enterprise Huawei and Sachindra Samararatne, ACDEO ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, the National Host.
ICTA successfully onboarded 60+ partners and are aiming to accomplish more than 200 activities within this week or month.
As a highlight of this week, the Ministry of Industries along with the Ministry of Technology announced a collaboration to develop a Startup Ecosystem Development Strategy for Sri Lanka to coincide with the Digital Economy Strategy 2030.
Minister Pathirana mentioned ‘Entrpreneurship is the key driver for the economy to bounce back. The role of Incubators in Universities and for the general public to access is the stepping stone. Min of Industries' recent tie up with TRACE is a testament to the value of public private partnerships for Startup Ecosystem Development. We want entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka to have a ‘Digital First’ strategy and we will pilot with the 4I program of my Ministry taking place in Gampaha
At the Global Entrepreneurship Congress ,evangelizing the ‘startup mindset’ was highlighted as the foundation to a startup ecosystem according to Startup Genome who have valued the Sri Lanka startup ecosystem to be USD 244 Mn. We are poised to grow to USD 1Bn by 2030 said Minister Herath
Mastercard Inc. is the title sponsor for GEW Sri Lanka. Their support underscored the significance of this initiative in Sri Lanka's entrepreneurial landscape. ‘We are confident that this is only the beginning of our support toward the startup vision in Sri Lanka and we are committed to provide our resources both financial and expertise to see its fruition’.