Browsing by Author "Wijesinha, Anushka"

Now showing 1 - 16 of 16
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    'Can We Cut the Cake Differently?: Stimulating Innovation in Sri Lanka'
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka; Welgama, Tehani
    An in-house presentation on the importance of innovation for growth and a review of Sri Lanka's status on innovation pillars and the challenges going forward.
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    Clarity or Confusion: The Global Economy and Sri Lanka
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka;
    This presentation goes beyond the immediate/short-term growth forecasts for the global economy and focuses on the drivers of growth, change and risk in the global economy from the medium-term perspective. It looks particularly at the US and EU as well as emerging markets like India and China. It also highlights several 'megatrends' that countries like Sri Lanka must watch
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    Female entrepreneurship and the role of business development services in promoting
    (Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, 2014-05) Attygalle, Kaushalya; Hirimuthugodage, Dilani; Madurawala, Sunimalee; Senaratne, Athula; Wijesinha, Anushka; Edirisinghe, Chopadithya
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    Female Entrepreneurship and the Role of Business Development Services in Promoting Small and Medium Women Entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka
    (Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka and Oxfam International, Sri Lanka, 2014-05) Hirimuthugodage, Dilani; Madurawala, Sunimalee; Senaratne, Athula; Wijesinha, Anushka; Edirisinghe, Chopadithya
    The general objective of this study is to examine the socio-economic and cultural barriers which hinder women’s progression to SME sector. Furthermore, it would also look at the existing and future opportunities for women to enter and lead SMEs with a special focus on access and availability of women - friendly Business Development Services (BDS) including development of business skills, technology transfer and linking with financial services. The study also aims to provide policy level recommendations to increase women entrepreneurs’ access to business development services and to identify national-level strategic priorities for stakeholders to work in economic justice with the aim of promoting women’s economic leadership and enterprise culture among women.
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    Global Competitiveness Index and Sri Lanka: The Human Resource Imperative
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka;
    A presentation reviewing Sri Lanka's performance on the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum and highlighting specific concern areas with regard to human capital in the country and its impact on competitiveness and growth.
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    Governing Foreign Ownership of Land in Sri Lanka and Implications for Foreign Direct Investment
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka; Perera, Nipuni; Weerakoon, Dushni
    This briefing note provides a discussion of the 2013 Budget Proposal on the prohibition of outright transfer of property to foreign nationals - its suitability, its policy design and concerns on implementation. Importantly, it places the proposal in international context by reviewing the practice and experience of several peer countries. The report was prepared for the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
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    Igniting a New Fire: Stimulating Innovation in Sri Lanka
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka
    A presentation on the importance of innovation for Sri Lanka and its potential contribution to rapid growth. It also looks at how Sri Lanka fares on some of the critical pillars of innovation and also emphasises the need for holistic innovation policy to drive the agenda forward.
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    Incentivizing Foreign Investment in Sri Lanka and the Role of Tax Incentives
    (Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2013-04) Wijesinha, Anushka; Ekanayake, Raveen; Mahendra, Gajen
    While this paper does acknowledge that tax incentives are not the only factor in determining the foreign investment attractiveness of the country, that tax incentives violate the equity principle of taxation, that the evidence supporting the effectiveness of tax incentives is contentious, and are a drain on the country's exchequer, it also acknowledges that Sri Lanka would need to maintain some form of tax incentives regime to remain competitive in attracting good quality FDI. The key argument of this paper is that this tax incentives regime must be designed, implemented, and monitored in a smarter and more cost-effective way so that the impact on revenue is minimized and economic policy objectives can be realized.
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    Introducing Venture Capital for Traditional and Small Enterprises in Sri Lanka
    (2011-04) Wijesinha, Anushka
    This paper first provides a brief introduction to the concept of venture capital and its key facets. It then provides an overview of previous efforts at introducing venture capitalism in Sri Lanka and highlights some issues to bear in mind in the context of the new effort to introduce venture capital. Finally, this paper provides some ideas and policy options for a proposed new venture capitalism structure under a public private partnership (PPP) model, with special focus on the traditional and small enterprise sector which is the key focus sector of the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development.
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    Matrix of Recommendations for Strengthening the Enabling Environment for Business Led Growth and Development
    (2012-06) Wijesinha, Anushka; Attygalle, Kaushalya
    This report reviews the business climate in Sri Lanka and highlights the key reform areas to improve it. The report was prepared for the UNDP
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    Review of Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPS) in Sri Lanka - Final Report
    (2013-10-03) Jayaweera, Roshini; Wijesinha, Anushka
    The following report has been prepared by IPS for the World Bank drawing on the findings of a survey which collected background information on ALMPs in the country, conducted by both government and non-government institutions. This report served as a background paper for the World Bank's Flagship Regional Report 'More and Better Jobs in South Asia'
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    Socio-economic Impacts of Nanotechnology
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka
    The Final Draft of the report to the National Science Foundation on the socio-economic impact of nanotechnology under a pan-South Asian project which reviews the potential and pitfalls of nanotechnology development, funded by the IDRC
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    'South Asia: Performance, Challenges and Prospects'
    (2013-10-03) Wijesinha, Anushka
    A presentation on the key competitiveness indicators in South Asia, with a focus on employment and private sector development, for the International Labour Organization Employer Organization's Meeting, October 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka
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    Tax reforms in Sri Lanka: will a tax on public servants improve progressivity?
    (Partnership for Economic Policy, 2012-12) Arunatilake, Nisha; Jayawardena, Priyanka; Wijesinha, Anushka
    The Sri Lankan government implemented tax reforms in 2011, including removal of the tax exemption given to public servants and reduction of personal income tax rates in order to improve tax compliance from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax payers. This study evaluates the 2007 and 2011 tax systems in order to examine the effects that taxing the income of public sector employees has on total tax revenues and the tax base. The study also compares the distributional effects of the different tax systems. Study further conducts simulation analyses to assess the most progressive means of achieving the 2007 tax revenue levels. Implications for tax evasion are also examined under different tax systems. The study finds that the 2011 tax reforms reduce tax revenue by 48 percent relative to the structure of income taxation in 2007. This decline in tax revenues occurs even though income taxes are extended to public sector workers because the 2011 tax reforms reduced the rate of income taxes across the board and increased the ta x-free threshold. Our simulations show that tax revenues would have risen if the reforms were limited to introducing income taxes to public servants. The resulting hypothetical) tax system would also have been more progressive than the tax structure resulting from the 2011 reforms. The study evaluated the distributional impacts of modifications to the 2011 tax system which would increase tax revenue to their level in 2007. More specifically, the present study finds that the most progressive way to attain this tax revenue target would be to increase tax rates on taxable income by 6 percentage points and to lower the tax-free threshold from LKR 600,000 to LKR 400,000.
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    The Transition to Middle Income: Thinking Beyond the 'Optics' to the 'Mechanics'
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka;
    This presentation explores the idea of a 'middle-income transition' or 'middle-income trap' in Sri Lanka and questions what ingredients matter when thinking about breaching the middle-income challenge. The presentation argues that 3 key pillars were important for countries that successfully navigated the middle-income transition - better talent, better products and better governance.
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    Venture Capital for Small Enterprises in Sri Lanka Initial Brainstorming on Setting up a Framework
    (2013-10-01) Wijesinha, Anushka
    A presentation exploring the concept of venture capital, reviewing the history of venture capitalism in Sri Lanka, and proposing a model for value-added venture capital and support to SMEs for the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development.