E-Channelling has entered into an agreement with Wataniya Telecom Maldives, owned by Qatar Telecom (QTel) as part of its global expansion programme, it said. The deal is to provide software services to automate medical ‘channelling’ services in the Maldives and is E-Channelling’s first international project.

“QTel has given an undertaking that after completion of the project in the Maldives they would look into replicating the software solutions in all other 17 countries jointly with ECL,” the statement said.

The four-phase project will first make available ‘e-channeling’ services to Maldivians to consult Sri Lankan doctors and get health check-ups and other medical services in 25 partner hospitals in Sri Lanka.

It will also make available e-channelling software to consult Maldivian doctors in Maldivian hospitals and medical centres.

The full report on LBO.

The famous story about how one can trade hair-cutting services across borders illustrates the connection with ICTs. How can one trade hair cuts, a service that is consumed at the moment of production? Multiple ways:
Mode 1. Using a robot in Country B that is controlled by the hair cutting professional in Country A. Use of telecom.
Mode 2. Person wishing to get hair cut, goes to salon in Country A, after making appointment, using telecom
Mode 3. Hair cutting salon in Country A, establishes a branch in Country B. Telecom used in controlling the branch.
Mode 4. Hair cutters from Country A travel to Country B to cut hair. Coordination uses telecom.

Franchise operations, selling of support services for hair cutting etc. fill out the list.

Anyway, a debate is raging on trade in services in Sri Lanka, albeit in a peculiar form. No politician speaks to the subject. Government officials agree to speak but never turn up. The Director of the think tank that has done funded research on the subject is waiting for the government to announce its position before he speaks. So if not for a few people like me who have a personal interest in the subject, the ground would be ceded completely to the demagogues.

I spoke on the subject yesterday at an event organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka. The slides are at Samarajiva_ICASL_July10 .

Because the government officials reneged on their commitments, I chose to provide a workaround, a slideset presented by the government think tank just before the CEPA was to be signed originally.

As attention shifts to services trade (for example, the most important element of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Sri Lanka, is the services chapter), there is of necessity a need to start looking at regulatory restrictions on services trade. Tariffs do not apply to services, so the only barriers are opaque, arbitrary and discriminatory regulatory provisions. This has been well recognized in telecom, with the reference paper on regulation being one of the key contributions to liberalization made by the GATS. The issue being raised at the UNCTAD meeting was whether there was value in exploring the regulatory aspects of trade in other infrastructure services. With electricity being traded across borders in pools and otherwise (Bhutan and Nepal have been trading electricity with India for a long time; if the proposed undersea cable goes through there will be trade between India and Sri Lanka as well), it is becoming clear that trade in infrastructure services is rising on the agenda.

In my concluding contribution I suggested that the focus that has already been there within the regulatory field on reducing regulatory risk and the international trade focus on removing barriers to Mode 3 (investment-based) trade in services suggests a good area for work by UNCTAD.

One reason I accepted the invitation was that UNCTAD had originally contacted four LIRNEasia researchers: Helani Galpaya, Malathy Knight, Payal Malik, and myself. That four people from LIRNEasia have been picked up on the UNCTAD radar screen, especially when we had no connections with that organization, speaks well for the reputation we have built for our researchers in the past four years.