What the country should do is to plan for the future, so that Sri Lanka could conveniently get itself integrated to the globalised services industry. As argued by Thomas L Friedman 9 , the world has become flat and the world nations, including USA, should recognize the flattening process of the world. If a country stubbornly and arrogantly refuses to accept this fact, it stands to lose, while others continue to move forward on an accelerated high gear. India, being one such country, has identified many areas which were previously non-tradable and took action to promote them actively. The advancements in ICT through a wired globe have enabled India to do so at a rapid pace. As indicated by Friedman, business process outsourcing (BPO) coupled with such personal services as secretarial services, provision of tuition, accounting and tax advisory services, on-line medical consultancy etc. are booming in the southern part of the Indian sub-continent, creating wealth and opening new opportunities to otherwise unemployed educated youth. Though India started its ICT much later than Sri Lanka, its export of software now amounts to US $ billion per annum. India’s present plan is to raise it US $ billion by 2010. This indicates the tremendous capacity which ICT alone would have for a country to create new wealth for its citizens. Ireland and Israel have exploited this opportunity profitably.
Real one-year interest rate in Sweden, the euro area, the United Kingdom and the United States Per cent 8  8  6  6  4  4  2  2  0  0  -2  -2  United States Euro area  -4  -4  Sweden United Kingdom  -6  -6 94  96  98  00  02  04  06  08  10  12  Sources: The IMF, the OECD and the Riksbank  Figure 2. Inflation in Sweden, the euro area, the United Kingdom and the United States Per cent 6  6  United States Sweden (CPI)  5  5  Sweden (CPIX/CPIF) United Kingdom  4  4  Euro area  3  3  2  2  1  1  0  0  -1  -1  -2  -2  -3  -3 94  96  98  00  02  04  06  08  10  12  Note. CPIX/CPIF for Sweden shows the CPIX to the end of March 2008 and thereafter the CPIF. For the United Kingdom, the RPIX is shown to the end of 2003 and thereafter the CPI. The HICP is shown for the euro area. The PCE deflator is shown for the United States. Sources: The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Eurostat, the Office for National Statistics, Statistics Sweden and the Riksbank. 12  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Figure 3.