HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, today announced the official opening of its Global Development Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The new development center was officially inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa and His Excellency Gopal Baglay, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka in the presence of Shiv Nadar, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Technologies and C. Vijayakumar, President and Chief Executive Officer, HCL Technologies via a virtual ceremony. HCL’s office in Colombo will be home to world-class infrastructure, multi-layered data & physical security protocols, and high-end systems to support its global customer base. From its new state-of-the-art office, HCL will primarily focus on offering next-generation solutions to serve major blue-chip organizations.
Commenting during the virtual inauguration event, Honorable Prime Minister of Sri Lanka said, “It gives me great pleasure to join you on the occasion of HCL Technologies inaugurating its first global delivery centre in Sri Lanka. As a nation, we are not only honoured to welcome a multinational technology giant such as HCL but we are also thankful for the opportunities the centre will offer our youth. Presence of a global ICT leader such as HCL technologies is not only an asset to Sri Lanka but also sends a strong message to the entire world that Sri Lanka is back in business, having successfully contained the global pandemic. I take this opportunity to congratulate the management of HCL Technologies and extend my very best wishes”.
The inauguration was also attended by Srimathi Shivashankar, Corporate Vice President, HCL Technologies, Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman Board of Investment (BOI), HCL partners from PwC, Board of Investment (BOI), Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM), ESOFT and other leading business dignitaries. The office in Colombo which currently has a seating capacity for more than 650 employees, already has over 100 new HCL local recruits. By the end of November 2020, it hopes to further add 600+ seats at this centre. HCL plans to deploy about 3,000 people in the coming three to five years and of which 1,500 employees will start working in Sri Lanka in the next 18 months.
Also commenting at the event, Shiv Nadar, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Technologies said, “We have a strong cultural link up with Sri Lanka. India and Sri Lanka have contributed to each other’s growth and prosperity. Our efforts are focused on creating employment and we plan to establish a very large presence here. I am looking forward to seeing motivated and energized young lankans join HCL and help us deliver on our promise – both to our clients and as well as to the country”
HCL joined hands with the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka in February 2020 to launch its local entity — HCL Technologies Lanka (Private) Limited and set up its first delivery center in the region. Through this entity, HCL will provide services to global clients in the areas of Applications & System Integration Services and Infrastructure Services.
“HCL is fully committed on this journey in Sri Lanka that we embarked upon in March 2020, supported by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and with the tremendous support from the Sri Lankan government. We envision this center as one of our key global delivery hubs that will work on technology programs for some of the biggest corporations in the world. We have already hired our first set of employees in the journey and we hope to take this number to over 3,000 people in the coming three years. Indeed, we are extremely happy to be here in Sri Lanka and deeply admire the deep cultural heritage of this country. The modern and forward looking policies of the government of Sri Lanka have been a tremendous support in our plans to establish our base here. We are very positive of the growth prospects we foresee in the country and looking forward to bringing in global opportunities to the local communities in Sri Lanka. I would also like to welcome all our new joinees in Sri Lanka to the HCL family and hope that together, we will grow from strength to strength” commented C Vijayakumar, President and Chief Executive Officer, HCL Technologies
The company would help the local workforce ‘stay rooted’ in their native place and invite Sri Lanka expats to come back home and be a part of this transformational journey. HCL will also implement its Work Integrated Education Program to foster growth by actively cooperating with local ICT and engineering institutions in order to develop and train the local talent pool. For freshers, HCL will focus on hiring A Level, Higher National Diploma (HND) students through skills training & hiring program.