LMD, Sri Lanka’s leading business magazine should be congratulated for launching the ‘Sri Lankans Overseas’ blog to provide a forum for Sri Lankan’s living overseas to contribute to the nation building effort. Link to the blog: http://lmd.lk/?p=11555

Sri Lanka’s post-war renaissance is in need of the shot-in-the-arm from Sri Lankans living overseas. I would like to summarize the key points made in the various comments made so far;

1. Wherever we live Sri Lankan’s are Sri Lankans… blood is thicker than water and this is a fact we can’t avoid.
2. Each of us has our own dreams and goals and for this reason we may have migrated and this is an important factor we need to respect.
3. It is not about getting everyone to come back to Sri Lanka, it is more about seeing how we can contribute. Some may come back if the opportunities are good and returning meets their life goals, some others can continue to live overseas and help building Sri Lanka.
4. It is important for us to have Sri Lankans all over the world so that we can sell Sri Lanka through them.
5. There is also a role to be played by government to facilitate this process by allowing tax breaks, making the process of getting dual citizenship easy etc.

May I suggest an idea that was picked up from NASA Astronaut Ron Garan, who is working on building an open source network named; Unity Node, to connect the 20 million plus social businesses in the world. Ron Garan’s story is amazing and I had the privilege of listening to him at the Social business day in Bangladesh recently; please read; http://ranjandesilva.com/2012/06/29/anything-is-possible-creating-a-world-without-poverty-with-inspiration-from-outer-space-and-inner-space/  if you would like to read this amazing story.

The idea is for someone to create a; Sri Lanka Node to connect all businesses run by Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and overseas so that we can share resources, share information and help each other to make Sri Lanka one of the best places to live and visit; a little miracle that is happening …