The brain drain during the war has undoubtedly robbed Sri Lanka of some of its best talent. The end of the war may have stemmed the tide, but even today many educated professionals leave the country for greener pastures. A few may come back as the economy continues on growth mode, but for the majority with established careers, social circles and lives overseas, moving back is out of the question. But should these expats be ruled out of any national economic strategy simply because they are unlikely to move back?
Sri Lankan expats who have reached positions of power and influence in the global arena are perhaps one of the best resources that can be leveraged for national growth. Sri Lankan-born Chamath Palihapitiya, who manages an investment fund named Social Capital after an illustrious career at Facebook, played a key role in bringing Google Loon to Sri Lanka recently. Many others have played similar roles behind the scenes in recent high profile investments.
Of course, the majority of Sri Lankan expats are professionals rather than businessmen. Many of them are entrepreneurially inclined, but are unlikely to act as middlemen to broker investments at national scale. However, within their own professional networks, they may be able to facilitate useful business introductions, particularly for Sri Lanka’s SMEs. For example, a professional working in the West may be able to introduce his company or acquaintances to local companies providing outsourced services, when an opportunity arises. Many small-scale exporters have started their businesses via such chance contracts secured through introductions made by friends and relatives living abroad. Can this type of business introductions be facilitated through a digital platform? This is a question worth pondering by anyone looking at immediate steps to increase exports by SMEs. Digital platforms such as Airbnb and eBay have succeeded in facilitating transactions between strangers by providing users measures of other users’ trustworthiness via ratings and reviews. An online marketplace for business introductions that does the same could potentially help small-scale exporters expand their referral network beyond immediate friends and family. Of course, a curation mechanism would be necessary to ensure that the SMEs on the portal are capable of delivering foreign projects or sell products of international standard. Hence, this type of project necessarily needs some level of curation by the government or an unbiased third party to establish credibility.
[pullquote]Sri Lankan expats who have reached positions of power and influence in the global arena are perhaps one of the best resources that can be leveraged for national growth[/pullquote]
Many small-scale exporters do use online channels to approach foreign buyers directly, but enjoy little success. Direct channels such as email are clogged with spam, and there is fierce competition to stand out in content marketing channels like Facebook.
Hence, having actual feet on the ground is still the best way to enter a foreign market. Opening up offices overseas are far too expensive for small companies that can hardly afford periodic travel for trade shows and sales meetings overseas. The success rate at trade shows often does not justify the expense. Besides establishing their own offices or sending their own staff overseas, the only other option for establishing a presence aboard is to hire professional business matchmakers. The performance of many who claim to be such matchmakers is sketchy at best and a majority requires up-front fees or retainers to get started. Hence, they have little to lose if their efforts do not bear fruit.
Using Sri Lankan expats to act as representatives and matchmakers for local SMEs targeting their area of expertise seems a more attractive solution. Having some knowledge of the local market, they are better placed to assess the capabilities and track record of the SMEs they represent. For the same reasons, they can speak more authoritatively to potential foreign prospects about Sri Lanka’s talent pool and capabilities. Indeed, such representatives can facilitate not just exports, but FDI into the country, as well as joint ventures by introducing foreign principals interested in the local market to appropriate Sri Lankan partners. Selling the idea that they can become middlemen for Sri Lanka’s growth to expat professionals content with their day jobs is likely to be a challenge, but one worth taking on – as the pressure to increase exports keeps mounting.