Talking about technological aspects, Wijesinghe said the delay in implementing the Transit Smart Card Project in Sri Lanka is a major concern. “Transit Smart Card project has been gravitating among Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) ICTA, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Ministry of Transport and various other line ministries over the last two and a half years.”

“However, we have thrown our hat into the ring and taken some control of it. What we have today is a brilliant technical solution. But it is sad that there is no idea how this project can be implemented from a financial model perspective,” he said.He also revealed that PPP Agency or any other line ministries currently don’t have a single tangible large scale digital infrastructure project that’s under implementation stage.

He said the government should be essential partners in shaping the transition to new scientific, technological, economic and social framework.“Subsequently, NAPPP would be able to play a catalytic role in facilitating PPPs in digital infrastructure and act as a leading partner for generating economic productivity,” he said.

He also noted that Sri Lanka has a successful track record in implementing PPPs with no failed transactions. “Also, the government must not over- estimate what it can do,” he said.He added, Sri Lanka has financially closed over US $ 5 billion worth of PPP projects in the last 20 years. “If you go back to the 1996-2000 era when I was the Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman, that was the time when Sri Lanka embarked on the PPP journey and financially closed almost a $1 billion worth of PPP projects over a five-year period,” he said.