A partnership initiative between India and Sri Lanka has been put into place to boost the public sector's ability to spur economic growth in Sri Lanka.
On a recent visit to India, President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to expand bilateral ties in new areas to the mutual benefit of their respective populations. Improving ties between the peoples of the two nations received particular focus.
India is currently engaged in a massive program to increase the capacity of civil services, and the partnership between India and Sri Lanka to increase the capacity of the public sector will present a chance to eventually implement a more creative and effective public sector architecture in Sri Lanka.
The National Center for Good Governance's Director General, Bharat Lal, recently traveled to Sri Lanka to meet with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and President Ranil Wickremesinghe in response to the country's request for high-level discussions on the project's execution.
There was a protracted debate regarding how to effectively reform Sri Lanka's civil service by implementing monitoring mechanisms to increase the effectiveness of government agencies.
Following these talks, it was agreed that a high-level Sri Lankan delegation would travel to India to continue discussions with pertinent Indian institutions in order to draft and carry out a suitable cooperation plan for capacity building.
A high-level delegation of 14 government officials is expected to attend the event at the India National Center for Good Governance from February 12 to February 17. They will be led by the Prime Minister's Secretary, Anura Dissanayake, and include the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, the Secretary of the Ministry of Technology, the Chairman of the Bribery and Corruption Investigation Commission, the Director General of the Sri Lanka Development Authority, the Deputy Solicitor General of the Attorney General's Department, the Executive Director of the Sri Lanka Board of Investment, etc. The Indian government provides all necessary facilities.
As a result, twelve government agencies are represented in Sri Lanka, with an emphasis on ways to strengthen these agencies' ability to implement digitization for essential government services, such as digital procurement, training recently hired civil servants, combating corruption, offering investment facilities, and providing a mechanism for food pricing that is impartial.
The delegation from Sri Lanka will observe that India has achieved headway with its recent efforts to enhance the civil service as well as the structural, policy, and operational changes that Indian government agencies pertaining to economic welfare have effectively executed.
In order to strengthen government agencies' abilities to support Sri Lanka's economic growth and attain long-term economic stability, the delegation also seeks to find institutional partnerships that may be formed with pertinent Indian businesses.
The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Minister of State for Personnel, Minister of Public Grievances, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, and the Sri Lankan delegation will also engage in roundtable talks and viewpoint-sharing.