By Ifham Nizam

At a time when Sri Lanka continues to grapple with limited fiscal space and structural economic constraints, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, a renowned naturalist who works in finance, is urging a shift in thinking—one that moves away from capital-heavy models and toward the strategic use of global expertise. Keeping his observations deliberately broad, de Silva Wijeyeratne frames Sri Lanka’s challenge in simple but candid terms: the country cannot afford to develop in the same way as wealthier nations, but it can still accelerate progress—if it learns how to access and use knowledge effectively.

“One of the big-picture things we need to do is improve how we find and use expertise,” he said. “If you look at countries like the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, they developed very quickly by buying in expertise and accelerating their progress. They didn’t develop everything on their own.” However, he is quick to point out the key difference. “They had the money to do it. They could afford to go out and buy expertise,” he said plainly. “But Sri Lanka doesn’t have that spending power.” This reality, de Silva Wijeyeratne notes, should not be seen purely as a limitation—but as a reason to think differently.

Sri Lanka’s economic condition makes it difficult to spend on paid foreign consultants, technical specialists, and large-scale advisory services. But according to de Silva Wijeyeratne, the global workscape has changed in ways that make expertise far more accessible than before.

He told The Island Financial Review: “We are in a world now where you can access some areas of expertise without necessarily paying for it in the traditional sense,” he said. “There are people who genuinely enjoy sharing knowledge and contributing, if you create the right work environment. We have to ensure that people who are willing to share their expertise can arrive in the country with their intentions clearly stated up-front and with an appropriate visa obtained quickly and easily so that they know that their visit is legitimate and one which is welcomed.’’

He referenced his article ‘A visa for bringing in expertise and expanding tourism’ published in The Island on Friday 23 May 2025. In this he proposes a special visa to address four strands, volunteering, internships, academic exchange and short term study. The idea is that the visa should be as easy as to obtain an online tourist visa, but the visitor can now apply for a longer term visa for a declared purpose such as volunteering. He was careful to emphasize that the proposed visa is not for paid work and does not give the visitor special rights and any relevant permits and permission need be obtained by the local partner. He suggests that Sri Lanka should begin to see itself less as a capital-constrained economy and more as a platform—one that can attract knowledge flows. “You don’t always need heavy investment upfront. You design a system that people want to engage with, and then value starts to build.” Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Singapore continue to use financial strength to import expertise. De Silva Wijeyeratne notes that Sri Lanka can use an un-paid model to attract expertise using a special visa as proposed to attract people who will be attracted to volunteer or work in Sri Lanka for free due to other reasons. In areas like biodiversity exploration and other nature-based academic work, foreign academics would love to partner with local academics if there was a simple and straightforward way for them to obtain a visa to do so and to arrive for periods for anything from 3 months to a year. As they will be on salaries paid by their academic employer overseas, it will not drain money out of Sri Lanka. On the contrary they will be long staying visitors who are bringing in money like any other tourist but additionally will also bring in knowledge. There are also many retired conservationists who are on a stable retirement income in G20 countries who would be happy to volunteer in projects in Sri Lanka. He notes that countries like India already have a visa for volunteering. “We can make Sri Lanka the go to country for people with expertise in nature who want to work in Sri Lanka on an unpaid basis because they are here to volunteer or work in partnership with local academics” he said. De Silva Wijeyeratne notes that this model will only work in sectors such as the academia or nature conservation where the day job is also a person’s passion. ‘”This will not work in every sector. We will not find a senior city person in finance, working in a voluntary role in a Sri Lankan financial institution. But in many nature-based areas of work, whether is to explore and discover new species of fungi or mosses or to train local naturalists who work in tourism, a special visa that facilitates this and can be obtained within a few minutes will enable Sri Lanka to tap into foreign expertise for free. The interaction with foreign collaborators will also open doors for Sri Lankan counterparts to be invited abroad to jointly present their work at conferences.

For Sri Lanka, the lesson is not to replicate any one model, but to adapt principles that fit its own constraints. “We need to recognise where we are and design accordingly,” he said. “We cannot copy-paste another country’s path. The proposed special visa idea which will also enable foreign interns to come to Sri Lanka for internships will also help grow the economy. For example, we have many large IT companies that develop software for companies in G20 economies. Foreign interns work in Sri Lanka will at a future date be middle or senior managers who may outsource work to Sri Lanka because they have the connections and trust the quality of work coming out of Sri Lanka. He also notes that when local companies engage with foreign interns through their universities, they may find themselves in a more structured programme which will make it easier for companies to also create places for local interns.

De Silva Wijeyeratne’s central argument is straightforward: Sri Lanka must focus on building systems that make it easy—and worthwhile—for experts to engage. “At the moment, we don’t have a clear way of connecting with global expertise,” he said. “Even when people are willing to help, there isn’t a structured mechanism to bring them in and make use of what they offer.”

He stresses that the issue is not a lack of goodwill or global interest, but a lack of organisation. “There is no shortage of people who are willing to contribute,” he said. “The problem is that we haven’t created the channels to absorb that contribution. De Silva Wijeyeratne also highlights the importance of creating a broader ecosystem where expertise translates into economic activity. “It’s not just about getting advice,” he said. “It’s about creating a market environment where that knowledge can lead to real outcomes—business opportunities, innovation, and growth.”

In his view, Sri Lanka must become more open to collaboration and more willing to act on external input. “If you create a system that works, people will come,” he said. “And when they come, they will add value.” While the idea of accessing free or low-cost expertise may sound idealistic, de Silva Wijeyeratne insists it is grounded in reality. “This is not theory,” he said. “We’ve already seen it happen in different sectors. People are willing to contribute, especially when they feel their input will make a difference.” At the same time, he acknowledges that Sri Lanka must improve its own internal capacity to benefit from such engagement.