June 10, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s small and medium enterprises could use e-commerce “to grow exponentially,” software and outsourcing chamber official said welcoming plans by authorities to liberalize Paypal inward payments. Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said last month, that the regulator was “seriously” looking at liberalizing Paypal inward remittances, which had been blocked in Sri Lanka.
Lack of Paypal inward remittance facilities had been holding back thousands of Sri Lankan freelancers from participating in outsourced work and kept the island out of a global ‘crowd-souring’ wave where work is distributed and start ups raise funds.
“We welcome the statement by Governor Cabraal on steps to liberalize inward payments through Paypal,” Imran Furkhan, director general of the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM), told LBO in a emailed response.
“E-commerce with its low investment in brick and mortar type infrastructure represents a unique opportunity for our SME sector to grow exponentially with little investment and leveraging on existing internet architecture and physical delivery systems.
“E-commerce provides an opportunity for even a small Sri Lankan company to ta